To Melt A Frozen Heart
by paws-bells
Summary: AkitoOC. Someone is out to assassinate Akito, and an assassin turned bodyguard is called upon to protect him. What if this bodyguard is a girl? Rating to be raised in later chapters.
1. Meeting

_**To Melt A Frozen Heart **_

Hi, minna-san! This is my first time writing a Fruits Basket fic, so please bear with me! Oh, and this fic is timed two years after Kyou showed his true form to Tohru and Yuki. Akito is a male in this fic. I know that he was revealed as a girl in the manga but in the anime it was implied that he's a guy. This fic will follow that anime, and be AU for those who are following the manga.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fruits Basket or any of its characters. I wish though.

That's all for now. Enjoy, minna-san!

**Chapter 1-Meeting**

"Someone is out to assassinate Akito."

"WHAT!"

Hatori's seemingly dry remark had caused a huge uproar.

Ayame and Shigure stared at him.

"Are you sure, Hatori?" Shigure's normally cheerful voice was dead serious.

The family doctor of the Souma clan nodded grimly.

"Someone had poisoned his medicine. Fortunately, Akito had not drunk it. One of his ever present canaries drank a bit of the concoction and apparently keeled over moments later."

There was silence as Shigure and Ayame digested that fact.

Hatori sighed and looked around the room.

They were in Shigure's house. Yuki, Kyou and Tohru were still in school.

Hatori had called upon his two most trustworthy cousins as quickly as possible to tell them of the failed attempt on the life of the family patriarch.

"Why? Why would somebody want to assassinate Akito?" Ayame asked at last.

Hatori shrugged.

"I do not know, but whoever he is, he must be very eager to get rid of Akito to use such underhanded methods."

Shigure sweatdropped.

"Anou…but is there a justified method for assassination?"

Hatori ignored the man and continued.

"I think that he will not stop here. He will probably try again."

"How is Akito taking this unexpected turn of events?"

That was asked by Ayame.

Hatori stared at the silver-haired man.

"He finds it extremely amusing."

Ayame shook his head in exasperation.

'Akito is always like that.' He thought. "He finds the prospect of death amusing, in contrast with living a cursed life. I don't blame him, actually.'

"We cannot have that." Shigure said at last. "We must do something to prevent that."

Hatori nodded.

"We have already stepped up security. Before anything reaches Akito, they are to be thoroughly checked. However," he added grimly. "this is all that we can do. I am afraid that this unknown person might send in a professional assassin. If that happens, whatever we do would be for naught."

Ayame reacted dramatically, as usual.

"We cannot have that happen!" The man waved his hands around frantically. "Akito had so valiantly, okay, albeit unwillingly, sacrificed himself to take the family curse upon himself. The least we can do is to let him live a peaceful life!"

'If I know Akito, he'd welcome death instead.' Hatori did not voice out his opinion, however.

"In that case, we must fight fire with fire."

Ayame and Hatori looked at Shigure, who had been silent for quite sometime.

"What is your idea?" Hatori asked.

Shigure looked at his best friends cum cousins.

And smirked.

"We hire an assassin."

* * *

Yume got on the computer and logged onto the Internet. She was extremely curious to see that she had mail. Opening the mail, she glanced through the contents quickly. 

'Interesting request. This might prove to be amusing. I will take it,' she thought before replying to the mail.

_Hai, I accept this assignment. You can expect my arrival. _

_Dream_

Clicking on the 'send' button, Yume quickly deleted all traces of the message and shut down her computer.

There were a lot of things to be done before she could meet her client.

* * *

"I can't believe that it was so easy. She agreed!" Ayame blathered on with excitement. 

Hatori kept silent but stared at Shigure.

After Shigure had come out with his suggestion of hiring an assassin to act as a bodyguard for Akito, Hatori was hard-pressed to agree.

It was a good idea.

However, Hatori did not think that it was a good idea for Ayame to do the hiring.

Sure, the silver-haired man had some contacts due to his very unique occupation, but if his contacts are as screwed up as Ayame is, then they might as well be arranging Akito's funeral already.

Hatori could feel a migraine coming.

"What did she say?" Shigure came out of the kitchen with cup of tea in hand.

Tohru, Kyou and Yuki were also there. They had all heard of what happened (courtesy of Shigure's big mouth) and were just as eager for some answers.

"Hai, Ayame-san, what did this lady assassin say?" Tohru asked. Her eyes sparkled with excitement.

"I don't really give a damn." Kyou said.

For once, Yuki agreed with the cat.

"Hai, for all I care, Akito can go to hell and rot."

Hatori frowned at the younger Soumas.

"Anou…she said that she'd meet us tomorrow at the family property." Ayame said cheerfully.

"I don't think that we should let everyone know of the fact that we have hired a bodyguard for Akito. For all we know, the mastermind of the assassination attempt could be from our own clan." Shigure piped.

Hatori wanted very much to dispute that but Shigure might be correct.

But why would one of their own do that?

"Okay, then." Ayame agreed, and Hatori's thoughts were broken. "We shall bring Yume in under a guise or something."

"Yume?" Shigure echoed. "She is called 'dream'?"

The man started laughing.

Yuki, Kyou and Tohru sweatdropped.

Hatori was starting to have serious doubts over the credibility of this so-called assassin.

Ayame looked thoughtfully at his cousins.

"Yume is her nickname. I don't really know of her real name; nobody does. She was introduced to me through one of my more prominent clients, so I think that she should be quite good at what she does."

Shigure stopped laughing but was still grinning.

"We will see about that, won't we?" He sobered. "Anyway, Ayame, have you told her about our family secret?"

Ayame looked horrified then.

"Shimatta! I forgot about that!" He wailed.

Shigure started to laugh again.

Hatori was really having a pounding headache now.

How the hell is the woman going to protect Akito now?

* * *

Yume looked thoughtfully at the data in front of her. 

'This is more interesting than I first thought. The Souma family seemed to have a lot of skeletons in their closet.'

Forest green eyes gleamed with mischief and amusement.

'Fascinating.'

* * *

Akito was sitting on the porch outside his room. He was leaning against the wall and as usual, was dressed in traditional Japanese kimono. His clothes were disheveled and rumpled. 

'An assassination attempt…'

A canary flew to his offered finger. Akito stroked the fragile bird.

'Whoever he is…'

The bird flew away.

'He should have tried harder.'

* * *

Ayame, Hatori and Shigure were anxiously awaiting Yume's arrival. 

"What did you tell Akito, Hatori?"

Hatori sighed. He was still not sure if this hare-brained scheme would work.

"I told him that I have hired a nurse to look after him. He did not look suspicious."

Shigure nodded and Ayame glowed with happiness.

"This is very good! I can get Mine to help me get a nurse costume from my…ITAI! What was that for!" The silver-haired man gave Hatori a hurt expression.

Hatori looked straight ahead.

"Please don't push things any further."

Ayame grumbled but he stopped trying to advertise his clothing.

He did not really have any time to do that as at that moment, a sports car drove into view.

Shigure whistled appreciatively as the sexy black Ferrari slinked to a halt in front of them.

The driver cut the engine and opened the car door.

Bells tinkled.

The Mabudatchi trio stared as a girl who looked barely old enough to drive stepped out from the shadows of the car interior.

To say that she was pretty was an understatement.

The petite-looking girl was dressed demurely in an elegant long-sleeved white blouse and ankle-length skirt. Her long red hair fluttered in the wind. Bright green eyes dominated an aristocratic face.

"Anou…" Shigure ventured. "Are you lost, lady?"

That earned him a whack on the head, courtesy of Ayame.

"Baka." He called his cousin. "This is Yume."

He bowed to the girl and Shigure and Hatori followed suit.

"Konnichiwa, Yume-san." They chorused, or rather, Shigure and Ayame chorused. Hatori was still stunned.

"Konnichiwa, minna-san." The girl returned the courtesy. "Ayame-san had told me everything. I look forward to working with you all."

Shigure was looking starry-eyed. What a delicious husky voice!

"Anou…let me give you a tour of the Souma property."

"What about the man whom I am supposed to protect?"

Hatori answered.

"We will introduce you to him later, Yume-san. For now, Shigure, the man who offered to show you the Souma premises, will help you to settle in. We will take care of your car."

Yume nodded.

"Hai, arrigato. It was nice meeting the three of you."

Without further ado, Shigure escorted Yume into the house.

The remaining pair watched as Yume and Shigure disappeared from sight.

Then Hatori started to demand some answers.

"How could you hire a teenage girl to protect Akito? The chit looks barely old enough to protect herself!"

Ayame frowned at Hatori.

"The chit, as you so kindly called her, is nineteen, old enough to do what she wants."

Hatori reared back in surprise.

"Nani! She looked barely sixteen!"

Ayame shrugged.

"She is nineteen, two years younger than Akito."

Hatori shook his head.

"I don't know if this will work, but since I have no choice, we will continue with this plan." He muttered. "Let's hope that this Yume is as good as you think."

* * *

"Here we are, Yume-san! This will be your room! It is right beside Akito's." 

Yume explored as Shigure carted in her two luggages.

The room was in truth an apartment by itself. It was very large, and branched off to form a tiny galley-like kitchen, a living room, a small toilet and an adequately sized bedroom.

All in all, things were looking very satisfying for her.

Yume nodded her thanks as Shigure emerged from her bedroom after depositing her stuff there.

"Are we going to meet Akito now?"

Shigure looked uncomfortable.

'Shimatta,' he thought. 'Yume-san looked so innocent and fragile, like Tohru-chan. Akito would swallow her alive.'

"Anou…" he stalled. "I think that Ayame needs to give you some more instructions."

Yume nodded but her sharp green eyes did not miss the pitying look that Shigure gave her. She wondered what kind of person Akito is like.

Ayame and Hatori came in then, much to the relief of Shigure.

"Ayame! You wanted to tell her something before we introduce her to Akito, ne?"

The silver-haired man nodded.

"Hai."

He turned to Yume.

"Yume-san, your real motive here must not be made known to anyone else other than the three of us here. You cannot even tell Akito. For all he and the world know, you are just a nurse whom Hatori had hired to look after him. At the same time, we'd like your help in investigating to find out who is the mastermind behind the assassinations. Is that okay for you?"

"I understand; now, can I meet this Akito? I am very anxious to meet my client."

Shigure, Ayame and Hatori looked at each other uneasily.

"You see…" Ayame said again, this time a tad uncomfortably. "Sometimes Akito has…mood swings, and we sort of put up with him as he is the family patriarch…"

Yume nodded.

"So he is a little temperamental?"

Shigure and Ayame nodded quickly. Yume didn't know what to make of this. It made her wonder why three full-grown men would cause to be so wary over their sick patriarch. It made her wonder what kind of person Akito was.

"Sou ka."

Yume walked to the door.

"Let's go and meet him now. The three of you have aroused my interest greatly."

* * *

"Akito." Hatori greeted the man. 

Akito was reclined by the porch. He sat up slowly in acknowledgement of Hatori's presence.

"The girl that I have told you about; she is here."

"Send her in."

Hatori got up from his kneeling position and went to the door. He gestured for the trio to enter.

Yume walked in first, with Ayame and Shigure flanking her.

Her eyes were immediately drawn to the sitting figure that was facing away from her.

Akito heard bells.

The soft tinkling stopped when Yume stopped moving.

"Akito-san."

He stiffened slightly as he heard the husky voice calling out his name in greeting.

Akito composed himself and put on a placid expression before turning to face the group.

He took in the girl's exquisite face with no outward reaction.

"What is your name?"

Yume was staring at Akito openly.

The man was like nothing she had expected. She had predicted some things correctly, though. Indeed, he was very lean and pale.

But what she had not expected was his face.

He was very beautiful.

A mop of unruly dark hair that Yume itched to touch.

An arrogant patrician face.

Sardonic chocolate-brown eyes.

Akito looked like a dark prince.

A fallen angel.

"What is wrong with this girl? Is she dumb?"

An angel who had just insulted her openly.

Yume snapped out of her thoughts to see Akito staring at her with blatant disgust.

She glanced to her side at Hatori, who was glaring at her.

"Anou…Hajimemashite. Atashi wa Yume desu."

A raised eyebrow.

"Yume."

Yume tried hard to suppress the shudders that shook her body at his voice.

What was wrong with her today?

"What a stupid name."

The redhead stiffened.

'Yume no baka! This is work! Why are you thinking of stupid things like that now, of all the times!' a voice reprimanded coolly.

And it was right.

Time to work.

Deliberately, the girl let the daydreams fade from her eyes until there was nothing left but an irate green stare.

"Akito-san. I am here to take care of you, not to stand here for you to insult." The voice was cool and Yume was proud of it.

Ayame and Shigure winced.

Hatori shook his head. Before the day ends, they were going to have to look for a new bodyguard.

Akito's eyes widened.

Before Yume could comprehend what was happening, Akito was behind her.

And savagely pulling her hair.

"What did you say?" Akito's voice was threatening now.

Yume gritted her teeth and forced tears of pain back. She had too much training to cry out now.

Shigure and Ayame rushed up to try to separate the two but Hatori stopped them.

"Let's see what happens."

"Demo…" Ayame protested.

"You brought her here. You should be prepared to pay the consequences." Was Hatori's sharp reply.

Ayame shut up.

They looked on helpless, as Yume shut her eyes, seemingly with resignation.

Akito tightened his hold on the girl.

"I asked, What did you say!"

Ayame did not think that he wants to see anymore. Shigure was staring guiltily at the floor. Only Hatori was looking on emotionlessly.

And he was surprised when Yume opened her eyes again.

They were not filled with tears.

Rage.

They were filled with rage.

"Akito-san."

Akito heard her.

"I told you that I am here to look after you, not to serve as your punching bag. Further more," she added. "What kind of respected family patriarch would hurt a woman?"

Yume's voice was still calm and collected, as if the two of them had been doing nothing but discussing the weather for the past half an hour.

Ayame and Shigure looked up in shock.

Akito's eyes narrowed with anger.

Turning the girl around, he backhanded her. Yume hit the ground painfully.

"AKITO!" Hatori yelled. He made a move to go to Yume, but the girl stopped him.

"Iie." Yume stood up slowly.

The room was silent except for Akito's heavy breathing.

Yume looked up at last.

Ayame and Shigure gasped when they saw the thin trail of blood that trickled from Yume's mouth.

Akito's eyes widened with shock.

'The girl, she is still not defeated.'

Yume's eyes were not downcast.

They were a frozen green now, and the arrogance and pride in them were astounding.

"Akito-san, please stop this childish act now." Yume's tone was civilized, polite.

Akito could not believe it.

"Naze?" he whispered at last. "Why don't you just CRY!"

Yume looked at Akito.

"Why should I cry, Akito-san?" she asked. "Why should I shed my tears for your pleasure? I have my pride, Akito-san, and if you think that a few harsh words and some beatings could take it away, I'd say that you are too naïve." Yume spat blood out of her mouth.

"My pride is the most important thing that I have, and nothing can take that away. It'd do you good to remember that, Akito-san."

Akito froze.

All he wanted to do now was what Yume had said. He wanted to beat the arrogance out of the girl.

'But then, it won't work with her.' He thought angrily. 'She was right. She had won this time around."

Akito composed himself. Slowly, the harsh breathing leveled, became calmer.

"Hatori. I am tired. I'd like to rest. Take this impertinent girl out of my sight."

Yume did not need to be told twice. She strode out of the room with her head held high.

Ayame and Shigure followed her out.

Hatori waited for everyone to vacate the room before he spoke again.

"Akito. About the girl…"

"Keep her."

Hatori looked up.

Akito was back at the porch.

"Are you sure about that?"

Akito nodded imperceptibly.

Hatori left.

Akito looked at the sky.

'An unexpected girl; so spirited. I hate to say it, but I admire her guts.'

He closed his eyes.

'I'd have fun breaking her.'

Sensuous brown eyes opened again.

"This is not over yet."

"Yume."

* * *

Yume walked straight to her room. She looked neither left nor right, but she could see people pointing at her. 

"Yume-san!"

Honestly, she did not give a damn.

"Yume-san!"

She just hated to be the center of attention.

"YUME-SAN!"

Yume stopped.

She turned to see Shigure and Ayame hurrying towards her.

"Yume-san, daijoubu ka?"

Yume nodded at Shigure, who had asked the question.

"Hai, daijoubu."

"Yume-san, gomen nasai, for Akito's behavior. We'd understand if you are going to abandon this job." Ayame and Shigure bowed in apology.

Yume was surprised.

"Nani? Why are you two apologizing? And when did I say that I was leaving?"

Ayame and Shigure looked at each other.

"You mean you are still going to stay after what Akito did to you?"

Now, Yume was affronted.

She looked left and right, and when she saw no one, she whispered.

"Are you two bakas? I am a professional assassin, not some puny onna. What Akito did to me is slight compared to the other injuries that I had sustained before."

The two Soumas gaped at her.

"People beat you up all the time!"

Yume rolled her eyes.

"Iie, but getting injured is my occupational hazard. What I am trying to say is that I am perfectly all right. Things like this won't fall me that easily."

"In fact," she smirked.

She had absolutely no idea how scary she looked at that moment, with that bloodstained mouth and all.

"The battle is just beginning."

Shigure and Ayame shuddered.

They feared for Akito.

* * *

"Itai…" 

Yume was in her bathroom. She was accessing the damage that Akito had done to her.

So far, she had a headache due to all the hair-pulling, a tender scalp, a reddened left cheek, a delicate split-lip, and an aching posterior.

"Itai…"

"Yume."

Startled, Yume turned to see Hatori standing at the doorway of the bathroom.

"Hatori, what are you doing here?"

Hatori looked at Yume with hooded eyes.

'Nani?' She thought as she looked down.

And realized that she was only clad in a towel.

Yume turned bright red.

To her surprise, Hatori walked into the bathroom, nearer to her.

Yume found herself backing up until she felt the sink counter against her back.

Hatori raised his hand, and Yume reared back slightly.

She closed her eyes.

But what she felt was only a feather light touch on her left cheek.

Peeking with one eye, she saw Hatori drop his hand and walk backwards a few steps.

"Gomen, Yume-san, but your cheek looks slightly swollen. I have brought some medication for you to apply." Hatori indicated the small tubes of creams in his other hand.

"Sou ka." Yume said as she took the medications from him. "Arrigato, Hatori."

Hatori nodded.

"If you apply them tonight, the swelling should go down by tomorrow."

He turned to leave.

"Thanks again." Yume called after the doctor just as he was about to leave her room.

Hatori halted.

"You were very brave to stand up against Akito like that."

Yume started at his words.

She was about to ask exactly what he meant by that but he was already gone.

* * *

Okay, chapter one finished! Please pardon my horrible grammar and spelling! Arrigato gozaimasu! 

Hope that the Fruits Basket characters are not too OOC. As you might have guessed, my story is not going to be centered on the main characters of Fruits Basket (In case you don't know who, mainly, Yuki, Kyou and Tohru.) It would be more focused on the other members of the Souma family, namely the 'three musketeers' and Akito! However, Yuki, Kyou and Tohru will make a few appearances here and there.

One more thing, guess with whom will Yume end up with?

Nothing much to write other than to please, please, review this chapter! Onegai! I wanna know what the readers think. Arrigato gozaimasu!


	2. First Act

_**To Melt A Frozen Heart **_

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fruits Basket or any of its characters. I wish though.

at another place

'…' thoughts

Some Japanese translation here…

Urusai----Shut up

That's all for now. Enjoy, minna-san!

**Chapter 2-First Act**

One week passed by with no further violent run-ins with Akito, as had their first meeting. All that required of Yume's attention was for her to make sure that all of Akito's needs were fulfilled and that there was nothing dangerous trying to attack him.

Akito was not a dream client, however.

He tried his best to be as difficult as possible regarding everything that concerned Yume. He made Yume run stupid errands, demanded for her to be quicker in her actions, and basically grabbed every available chance to insult her.

Yume gritted her teeth and tolerated everything that he threw her way. Akito was not going to get a rise out of her ever again. She was determined to prevent any similar incidents like their first meeting from happening. However, that did not stop her from imagining herself bashing a certain patriarch's head when the going gets tough.

'Damn it,' she thought one day when she was busy running from one end of the Souma family property to the other to fulfill another one of Akito's ridiculous requests. 'I cannot fight him, as I have to protect him. I cannot even show any signs of my power…and Akito is acting like a pouting child…'

Yume sighed. She was reaching Akito's room soon. It was getting extremely tiring to handle him.

She walked to his doorstep, knocked and entered.

"Akito-san, I have delivered your message to the Southern end."

Akito was sitting by the table, drinking tea. He too was getting frustrated with Yume. He baited her mercilessly, but she just refused to reply. It made him feel very stupid, and he did not like that at all.

"I want you to go and find Hatori now."

Yume perked up.

"Naze? Daijoubu ka, Akito-san?"

Akito did not like the questioning.

"I did not ask for your stupid questions. Just get Hatori here, NOW!" He threw his cup at her.

Yume tilted her head a fraction to the left at the very last second. The delicate teacup flew past her and shattered into a million pieces.

"Iie."

"Nani?" Akito glared at Yume.

"Iie." Yume repeated the word. "I am sick and tired of your childish requests. If you are able to throw the cup at me, then you do not need Hatori-san at all."

"Who said that I needed treatment! I just want to talk to him! Go and get him now!"

"Iie, if you want to talk to him, you can go and get him yourself."

Akito reared back with anger.

"You…"

Yume walked nonchalantly to where he was sitting.

"Come, let's go."

She reached out a hand to help him up. Akito slapped it away savagely.

"I do not need your help," he snarled. He stood up and stalked to the doorway, Yume followed behind him.

Hatori's residence was three blocks away from Akito's. However, because Akito rarely, if ever, leaves his apartment, it was a great shock to some of the Souma clan members whom they had passed on the way.

"Hey, isn't that Akito…"

"Never seen him venture out so far before…"

"Wonder what happened…"

Akito looked straight ahead and did not even bother to acknowledge the people who had greeted him.

He hated attention. Was it not bad enough that he had to carry their curse on his back? Why must he also be a circus freak for them to point at too? That was the reason why he hated to go outside.

Damn Yume for forcing him.

Akito was getting more and more furious by the second. In his mind, he heard the jeers and the taunts.

'What a pathetic excuse of a person…'

'Should have killed him the moment he was born…'

'Horrid, disgusting child…'

'Cursed…'

Akito shook his head slightly. All those were long over. Nobody dare say that to him anymore. Nobody. Ever since he had locked away that vulnerable part of himself, nobody dared to taunt him anymore.

Just then, a little boy, no doubt a Souma, crashed into him. Already severely vexed, Akito thought nothing of using his hand to shove the kid roughly aside.

He watched with dispassionate eyes as the stunned boy flew to hit the ground with a painful thud.

'He deserved it,' he thought. 'To get in my way like that. Stupid boy.'

The boy started crying. Akito did not care. He continued on his way.

"MATTE, AKITO!"

Akito stiffened. He turned to see Yume glaring furiously at him.

Unbidden, a sliver of excitement tingled down his spine.

'So that's how to rile her up.'

With a smirk flirting with his lips, he walked over to Yume.

"Yes, Yume?"

The redhead was livid with rage.

"How could you do that, KISAMA!" She yelled at him.

Akito blinked. Nobody had ever yelled at him before, let alone curse.

He flicked a glance around. they had gathered a small crowd.

'All the better,' he thought. 'Everyone can see me humiliate her.'

Yume went over to the whimpering child. She picked him up and checked him for any wounds. She saw a scraped knee and a few bruises on his arms and legs.

Yume saw red. She was very angry. How could Akito do something like that with no remorse whatsoever?

"Hush, don't cry. Daijoubu, ne?"

The boy nodded and tried to burrow deeper into her arms. Yume knew what would happen if he got too close; so she held the boy at arm length.

"I will come back to you later, kay?"

Setting the child back on his feet, Yume stood up.

By now, the crowd had gotten very large.

Yume did not recognize any faces, but she was mad at all of them. They had just stood there and watched while Akito pushed the child aside.

"How could you do that?" This time, the question came out as a soft whisper.

Akito shrugged.

"Easily."

Yume's green eyes flared. She turned to the avidly watching audience.

"And how could you all just stand there and watch one of your own being treated this way? What kind of family are you?" Yume's questions were becoming softer and softer, and more and more menacing.

The crowd fidgeted uncomfortably.

Akito smirked.

"I am the patriarch. I can do what I want around here. This is my kingdom. It'd do you good to remember that."

What Yume said next shocked him.

"Hai, this is your kingdom, and if I am not mistaken, a kingdom that you had not helped to build at all." Her voice silky smooth, she continued. "What right do you have to brand the Souma clan as yours?"

Akito was speechless.

But Yume was not done yet.

She pointed to the little boy.

"I bet that this child had contributed more to the family than you have, Akito-san. What have you contributed, other than your unpleasant manners and barbaric actions?"

The crowd began murmuring slightly, and Akito turned red.

What did this chit know of his suffering?

What did she know of his pain?

And now, she had managed to turn some of HIS family members against him.

Akito was furious.

However, before he could do anything drastic, Hatori arrived.

The doctor dispersed the crowd and reached the duo standing in the center.

Grabbing Akito, he began leading him to his apartment. At the same time, he commanded Yume to follow too. The redhead surprised him when she shook her head.

"I need to see to the boy." She mouthed to the doctor. Hatori stared at the bruised kid standing a few feet away from the girl and instantly, he had a vague idea of what had happened earlier.

"Come to my place when you are done." Hatori said curtly to Yume as he guided Akito to his apartment.

Yume nodded and waited till the pair had disappeared from sight before turning her attention to the boy.

"Daijoubu ka?"

The redhead knelt down to the boy's level and began using some tissue papers to dab at the knee graze.

"There," Yume said at last. "The bleeding has stopped."

The little boy stared at Yume with awe.

"You went against Akito-sama." He breathed in wonder.

The girl repressed the urge to roll her eyes.

"I take it that none of you had ever tried to do that to him?" She asked instead. The boy shook his head quickly.

"Iie, we are taught to respect him as he is doing something very selfless for the Souma clan."

'Selfless my ass. What would that bastard do that is selfless?' Yume thought.

"Okay then, you heard Hatori-san. I have to go and see him now. You take care of yourself and look where you are going from now on." The redhead smiled at the boy. "We don't want another run in with Akito, do we?"

The boy shook his head again, this time fearfully, and Yume gave a mental sigh.

Was it so hard for Akito to be nice? Everyone here seems to be scared to death of him.

"Arrigato…" The boy looked shyly at her.

"Yume-chan." The redhead told the boy. She received a sweet smile for her efforts.

"Arrigato, Yume-chan!"

Yume allowed her lips to quirk a little as she watched the boy scamper out of sight. She started for Hatori's place after that. It did not take her long to enter Hatori's practice.

"So she finally decides to grace us with her presence."

Yume ignore Akito completely and bowed to Hatori.

"Konnichiwa, Hatori-san."

The doctor acknowledged the greeting with a slight nod.

Silence reigned over the room.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Tell her!" Akito said snappishly to Hatori.

Yume watched as the man's jaw tightened with annoyance and his eyes became determined with resolve.

'So the doctor has a backbone after all…'

"Akito," Hatori said at last. He turned to his patriarch. "What you want to be told to Yume, please tell her yourself. Do not drag me into this. I am not taking sides. She is your nurse, and I cannot be with you all the time."

Akito flushed; a surprised look on his face.

Yume smirked. So she was right; the purpose of Akito coming to Hatori's place was to complain about her.

"Hatori." The man managed to hiss out at last. "How dare you disobey my orders!"

The doctor stared at Akito and inclined his head. "Sumimasen, Akito, but I am just telling you that I cannot help you this time. This matter is beyond my handling capabilities. I cannot resolve it. I believe that the only people who can are you and Yume."

If possible, the man turned even ruddier. At last, conceding defeat, he stood up from his seat and huffed out of the room.

"Sometimes I wonder if he is really sick or is he just faking it." Yume murmured wryly. "Thanks for helping, by the way."

The redhead was about to walk out when Hatori said, "As I said before, I am not taking sides. Do not thank me."

Yume nodded, and the door slid shut.

* * *

Another week passed by peacefully after that fateful incident. Akito had taken to ignoring Yume now, and the redhead was perfectly fine with this new arrangement; she did not really like the arrogant fellow anyway.

However, guilt just had to interfere. Yume was beginning to pity Akito. The man spent all his days cooped up in his dark and stifling room. Occasionally, he would step out of the musty room to the corridor to play with his birds. And that was the furthest that he went. Yume wondered what the hell was wrong with Akito, and why did he not desire to get out of this oppressive enclosure.

Thus, she had an idea, and one day, she presented it to Akito.

The man gave no reaction whatsoever to Yume's suggestion and for a moment, the redhead wondered if he had heard her.

Akito sat up from his futon and faced the redhead. He was wearing his yukata, and as usual he was disheveled and unkempt.

"I believe that the medicine which Hatori had given me had made me hallucinate. I could have sworn that you had just asked me to go for a walk in the park."

Yume nodded.

"Yes, you did hallucinate. I did not ask you to go for a walk in the park. I am _telling_ you that we are going for a walk in the park."

Chocolate eyes narrowed in anger.

"No."

Yume pretended that she did not hear. He was not the only want who could be childish at times.

"Let's go." She said. The redhead was poised over the threshold of the doorway.

Akito glared at the insolent chit. She was acting as though she could not care less about his opinions. He felt like pulling his hair out and screaming like a demented child just to get a rise out of her, but instinct told him that she would not be fazed by that.

"Did you hear me?" Akito settled for asking imperiously. "I said that I am not going."

"I heard you loud and clear, but nevertheless, we are going no matter what you say."

Yume turned inwards to stare at him then, and Akito was stunned by what the darkness of the room did to her eyes. The deep emerald orbs glowed with intensity and life. The pair engaged in a staring match, and Akito felt himself being pulled in by the bright green hue.

Upon realizing what was happening, the man broke the eye-contact almost immediately. Yume was startled by what had happened as well.

'What the heck had happened? Had he been another, I could have sworn that he had just hypnotized me but this is Akito, he has no powers whatsoever…'

Disconcerted, the girl turned back to face outside.

"We are going now." Yume heard the rustle of movements behind her, and Akito breezed past her.

"You win. For now."

Yume smirked and followed behind Akito.

* * *

"What is the purpose of this?" Akito demanded. "Why must we come here?"

"Must everything that you do have a reason?" Yume countered lightly.

Akito was taken aback by the mischievous look that Yume had on her face. He had never seen her like that before. Yume had always been somber and sarcastic, but never cheerful around him. However, he had to admit that cheerfulness looked good on her. Her emerald eyes lightened and twinkled; they laughed. It annoyed him slightly that she had never bothered to show that part of her to him before. Until now.

They were in the park, seating on one of the innumerous benches scattered around the place.

Yume caught Akito's scowl.

'What's wrong with him now?' she wondered, resigned. 'I can't tell him that part of the reason that I want him to go out is because of my sympathy of him. Akito would never tolerate pity. And he gets suspicious so easily, it is hard to keep things secret around him.'

Unconsciously, Yume let out a tiny sigh.

"If you really want to know, Akito, we are waiting for Shisho."

"Shisho?" Akito's brow drew together. "Who the hell is he?"

Now it was Yume's turn to look incredulous.

"You mean you don't know who Shisho is?"

Akito was starting to look annoyed.

"Is there any reason that I should?" He snapped. "And if I do know this Shisho person, I wouldn't be asking you, would I? Baka onna…"

Yume shook her head in disbelief.

"Shisho Souma, he is your clan member, and you don't recognize him? Some patriarch you are…" she muttered.

Akito flared up then.

"Do you know how many Soumas are there? Thousands!" The man exaggerated. "How the hell am I supposed to know each and every one of them!"

"Well, you can start by getting out of that hell hole of yours!" Yume retorted. "You do nothing every day except to seat inside the goddamn depressing room and stare at the walls. What kind of life is that?"

The man glared at Yume.

"What are you trying to imply?" Akito's voice was soft and silky now.

'Uh-oh,' Thought the redhead. 'Guess I really pissed him off now.'

"Are you implying that I do not have a life?"

Yume forced herself to shut up. She knew that her answers would severely displease the patriarch, not that he was not severely displeased already.

"Hmm?" Akito inched nearer until their faces were mere inches apart.

Yume was desperate for a diversion. Any diversion. Someone above must have heard her desperate pleas as at that moment…

"YUME-CHAN!"

Akito started slightly and jerked back. Yume looked around, and saw Shisho running towards them.

Akito's eyes narrowed.

"Is that…"

Yume nodded, answering Akito's silent question and stood up. She walked to Shisho.

"How's school, squirt?" She ruffled the boy's hair affectionately and Shisho struggled to evade her attempts, laughing all the while.

"Iie, Yume-chan!" The boy whined and Yume laughed.

Shisho noticed the figure sitting behind Yume then.

"Ne, Yume nee-chan, who is that behind you, huh? Huh?" the boy peeked at the person, and instantaneously, he paled.

"Ak…Akito-sama." The boy murmured fretfully, eyes lowered to the ground with respect.

Eyes still narrowed, Akito stared at the boy. One moment, he was laughing and playing with Yume so energetically, and the next, upon seeing him, the boy had become fearful and quiet. Akito did not know whether to be proud that he could command such fear in the boy's heart or to be annoyed that Yume had apparently won over another of his family member. He turned his attention to the redhead next and saw her annoyed expression. He raised a snide eyebrow and Yume glared, giving him a 'you-better-behave-or-else' look.

"Shisho, that is your name right?"

The boy looked up, surprised.

"H…Hai, Akito-sama."

Akito rose from his seat. Yume was right; the clean air in the park was refreshing, not that he was ever going to admit it to her. He approached the boy. Shisho saw Akito's movement and with a barely repressed squeak of fear, started to back up. Akito scowled. Cowardice is not one of the Souma's family traits. Shisho's pusillanimous retreat was already excuse enough for Akito to punish the child.

"Shisho."

The girl's firm, gentle voice broke through the boy's fears and almost immediately, he realized what he was doing. Giving Yume an ashamed look, Shisho stopped moving backwards and stepped up front to face Akito bravely.

Akito was surprised, to say the least; it was obvious that the kid was still scared to death of him, but he was standing his ground, albeit a little shakily, and that had won Akito's grudging approval.

Shisho stared at Akito. The patriarch's face was unreadable. Suddenly, Akito lifted a hand, and the boy flinched slightly.

"I am not going to hit you."

Shisho watched warily as Akito laid a slender hand on his shoulder.

"You are brave, boy."

Shisho looked up, stunned. Did the patriarch just praise him?

"Hai," The boy said firmly. Unbidden, a childish grin lit up his entire feature. "Arrigato, Akito-sama."

Akito was stunned by the boy's unexpected smile. Truth to be told, it was the first time that his words had brought happiness to anyone. Most of the time, they had produced distress from countless individuals instead. He dropped his hand from the boy's shoulder.

'Is that all? Is it so easy to make a person happy?'

There was an awkward silence as Shisho did not know what to say next. Yume decided to interrupt then.

Pushing some loose change onto the boy's hand, she pushed him gently in the direction of the ice-cream stand.

"Go and buy some ice-cream for yourself. It is Akito's treat for being so mean to you the time he knocked into you."

"Honto ne?" Shisho turned to look at Akito for approval, and the man gave an almost imperceptible nod. Pleasure evident in Shisho's eyes, the boy murmured a thank you before running off, leaving the adults alone.

Yume sauntered back to the bench and sat back down.

"There," she said amusedly. "It isn't that hard to be kind. I think that you just got your first supporter."

Akito turned and looked down imperiously at Yume. All that time with Shisho, he had forgotten that she was there as well. It made him feel a little foolish, knowing that Yume had witnessed his extremely random, if not only, act of kindness.

"What do you mean? The entire Souma clan is my supporter."

Yume sighed.

"Quit pretending that you don't understand what I mean. There is no such thing as a stupid Souma. You know what I mean." Direct emerald eyes looked into his. "Yes, your entire family supports you, but only because of the fact that you are their patriarch. They are obligated to respect and follow you. However," Her eyes searched his briefly. "I am willing to bet that Shisho is the first one to respect and follow you for who you really are, not what."

Akito broke eye contact with Yume. Her words were too close to their target. He looked away distantly. If he was given a choice, he would not want anyone following him at all. After all, is this patriarchy not the reason why he was suffering so now? The head of the family always has to bear the heaviest burden, and he was no exception.

'Because of this duty, I will have to die.' He thought bitterly.

"Akito?" Yume asked. Akito was scowling again, and his eyes were filled with anger. "Daijoubu ka?" She placed a concerned hand on his arm.

Akito pulled his hand away savagely and turned away from Yume.

"Don't touch me."

Yume retracted her hand.

"You don't know what it is like to be a Souma patriarch and the suffering that is attached to it, so URUSAI!"

There was silence except for the soft breeze that rustled the leaves on the trees.

"You are right, Akito." Yume said at last. "I don't know anything about it, but you do. After all, you were born for this position, weren't you?"

Silence.

"After fighting this duty for your entire life," Akito felt a cool hand touching his cheek. Eyes filled with all the turbulence that he was currently feeling, he turned to look at Yume.

"Don't you think that it is time for you to accept it?"

* * *

Sorry for such a long wait, minna-san! I hope that this chapter is satisfying enough! 


	3. Suspicions

_**To Melt A Frozen Heart **_

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fruits Basket or any of its characters. I wish though.

at another place

'…' thoughts

dream sequence

recall

That's all for now. Enjoy, minna-san!

**Chapter 3-Suspicions

* * *

**

"_Don't you think that it is time for you to accept it?"

* * *

_

Chocolate brown eyes shot open.

Akito sat up on his futon, his breathing a little ragged. Looking around the room, he realized that it was still nighttime and that the entire household was still asleep.

'Damn Yume…'

He fisted his hand and hit it against the futon. He, Yume and Shisho had returned home together from the park earlier that afternoon, after Shisho had bought his ice-cream. He still remembered what Yume had told him.

* * *

"_Don't you think that it is time for you to accept it?"_

_Akito reared back in surprise. _

'_What was she trying to tell me? To admit that the prophecy has won and that I might as well await death?' His eyes narrowed. _

_Yume watched warily as Akito raised his hand to his cheek to grab hold of hers. She watched as he lowered their hands and placed them on her lap. _

"_Do you know the obligation that I have to fulfill as a Souma patriarch?" Akito asked gently. Yume saw the dangerous flashing of his eyes and knew that he was angered. _

"_Do you?" His hold on her hand tightened and she winced inwardly. _

"_Hai." _

_Akito's eyes widened before narrowing again. _

"_You knew that I was going to die and yet you tell me to stop fighting my fate." It was not a question but a flat statement. _

_Akito's grip tightened again. _

"_Iie." Yume refused to let him see how much he hurt her, and so, she lowered her gaze to the ground. "Iie, I did not mean it that way."_

"_Then?" Akito demanded, his voice silky smooth. _

"_What I mean is that; everyone should enjoy life to the fullest." The redhead lifted her eyes, and Akito saw fierce belief in those emerald depths. "Everyone. Especially you. In a way, I think that you are very lucky; you know that you could die anytime, so you can afford to take risks that others cannot; try your best to fulfill all your dreams and wishes. As they say, 'Life is precious', so why waste it? But no," Yume shook her head. "Instead, you resent this life, and waste your days being bitter and cooped up inside a room where everyone else loathes to tread."_

_Akito kept silent. He had never thought of life that way before._

_Yume's voice softened. "Please think about this. There is nothing stopping you. Nothing"_

"_Except death." Akito's voice was harsh. _

_The redhead surprised Akito when she gave him a sorrowful smile and those bright green eyes stared into the distance, apparently lost in memories. _

"_There are other things worse than death." She said softly at last. "Be glad that you don't know them." _

_Akito was about to demand that she justify her vague answer when Shisho came to the rescue._

"_Yume-chan!" The boy tripped his way to the pair sitting on the bench. Annoyed at the interruption, Akito was about to snap at the boy when Yume intercepted. _

"_Oi, Shisho, is that for Akito?" She pointed to one of the two ice-cream cones that the boy had on his hands. Shisho nodded, and solemnly, he walked to Akito and handed him the treat. _

"_For you, Akito-sama."_

_Akito stared at the rapidly melting ice-cream that was being presented before him, and the sticky hand that was holding it. Normally, he would have ripped into the person who had dared to hand him such an unhygienic fare. But then, he saw Shisho's earnest eyes and heaved an inward sigh, all traces of earlier annoyance gone._

_He accepted the offering, and without looking, he knew that Yume was smiling. Shisho beamed._

'_This is getting highly ridiculous,' a sharp inner voice chided. 'You are turning into mush.' _

_Akito continued staring at the ice-cream. He did not have to look to know that Shisho was waiting for him to take the first bite. Genuinely sighing this time, he took a very reluctant, very tiny mouthful._

_Yume and Shisho watched as Akito chewed slowly, then swallowed. _

"_It is good." Akito said tonelessly. Shisho grinned with pleasure and tucked into his treat. _

_The redhead had to stifle her smiles. Akito would not appreciate the humor, though it was obvious that he did not want to hurt the boy's feelings. She watched as the patriarch looked with disgust at the ice-cream that was melting all over his hand and took pity on him. Discreetly, she offered him a wad of tissue papers, and he dumped the ice-cream into it before handing it back to her. _

"_You landed me into this." Was his answer for handing her the lump of tissues._

_Yume sighed and threw them away for him. _

"_Hey, Shisho, shall we return home now?" _

_The boy, with his face smudged with ice-cream, nodded happily, and the trio headed for home.

* * *

_

There is nothing stopping you…

Akito hissed out some choice swear words. Why can't he get that sentence out of his head? He mentally cursed Yume again for planting all these hopeless thoughts inside his mind.

He flopped back on his futon and concentrated on falling asleep. He almost made it too, had he not heard the soft whimpers coming from the room next to his.

Very annoyed now, he forced himself to sit back up on his futon. Remembering Hatori's advice to curb his temper, especially in the middle of the night, he made himself count to ten.

"One…two…three…four…"

The whimpers became louder, and they were now accompanied by sounds of tossing and turning.

Akito gritted his teeth and continued counting.

"Five…six…seven…"

The sounds did not abate.

"Eight…nine…TEN! That's it!"

Akito threw back his blanket and stood up. Whoever that was making that entire racket was going to pay for it.

Clad in his yukata, Akito set out to exterminate the source of the noise. Silently, he slid out of his room, and trailed the whimpers. The cries of distress guided him to the entrance of Yume's apartment. Akito was astounded. He hesitated over the doorway, pondering whether to enter or not.

Had Yume made all that noise?

'If she did," Akito thought as his eyes narrowed. "She should have known better. I do not care who made the noise; I will stop it nonetheless." His decision made, Akito entered Yume's apartment. He headed straight for the bedroom, and without knocking, he slid open the door. In the darkness, he approached the bed and was about to grab the sleeping person by the shoulders and give her a few savage shakes for disturbing his rest when what he saw shocked him.

Yume sleeps naked.

She was partially covered by the blankets that she had tossed and turned in. The soft moonlight streaming in from a nearby window caressed the sweet curves of her hips and waist and the length of an uncovered thigh like a gentle lover.

Akito felt himself flushing, something that had never happened before. He was immensely glad that it was the middle of the night now and that no one had witnessed his reddened cheeks.

Drawn by an irresistible force, his eyes strayed to her body once more, and they took in with silent appreciation the way her long red hair teasingly concealed and revealed her body. Just then, the redhead, still lost in her nightmares, gave another distressed whimper that awakened Akito from his musings. Annoyed at the direction that his thoughts were heading, Akito ventured nearer to the bed in an attempt to cover Yume's body completely with the blanket.

However, before he could do what he set out to accomplish, the girl turned and flipped herself on her stomach.

"Baka onna, cannot even sleep still…nani?"

He saw it then, and his eyes widened with disbelief.

"What the…how can…I must be seeing things…"

Akito sat down by the side of the bed and carefully, he pushed away strands of red hair to reveal Yume's back.

Yume's very scarred back.

Gently, the man traced one of the scars, and as if calmed by Akito's touch, Yume's whimpers ceased gradually and her breathing slowed to a normal pace. Grimly, the man covered the girl and left the room for his own.

It was obvious that she had been whipped, and savagely so too.

'Who would do this to a girl? Even I won't stoop so low as to hit a person like that…'

Then he remembered their conversation in the park.

* * *

"_There are other things worse than death. Be glad that you don't know them."

* * *

_

'Is this what she was talking about? What had happened to her?'

Akito reached his room and laid on his futon, deep in thoughts.

So many questions, but no answer.

But one thing was obvious.

Akito's eyes narrowed as suspicion sank in.

Yume is not the person that everyone thinks she is.

* * *

The next few days passed by in relative peace, but Yume could not help but feel that there was something seriously wrong with Akito. The companionable atmosphere that the both of them had shared after the visit to the park had seemed to disappear completely. Even though Akito was not as hostile as he once was, there was a wary edge around him.

Long gone were the barbed insults, and they were replaced by caution. It was as if Akito…mistrusted her.

'Impossible.' The redhead thought fiercely to herself. 'Akito cannot know that I am a guard. If he does know, he would have confronted me a long time ago. Is he starting to suspect something, though?'

"Yume."

Yume cleared her head from all the confusing thoughts and turned to regard Akito neutrally. They were in his room, and although the windows were opened, there was still a dark quality about it that made Yume shiver unwillingly.

"Hai?"

Akito was sitting on his futon, his yukata sprawled around him. He turned dark eyes to Yume's emerald ones.

"Who are you really?"

"Whatever are you talking about? I am your nurse." Surprise made her voice sharp, and Yume winced at her shrill tone. Now, Akito would definitely know that something was up.

'Damn, give me an assassination attempt any day and I will execute it flawlessly. But make me an undercover bodyguard and I suck to the high heavens. Shit.'

"You are not the nurse that Hatori thinks you are. For one, you don't act like a nurse. There is something that does not quite fit the picture."

Akito's eyes turned cold when he saw that he had hit the proverbial nail right on the head. Yume paled.

"So I am correct. You are something else totally, are you not?" He smiled humorlessly. "You almost had me fooled for awhile. All those talk about accepting my fate and embracing life. You said them just to get to me, didn't you?"

Yume could not bear that Akito actually thought that she would stoop so low as to manipulate his emotions.

"Iie," she said at last, her throat painfully dry. "Those words were really what I think. There were no ulterior motives behind them."

Those long eyelashes lowered as Akito hid his thoughts from Yume.

"Really," he said silkily at last. "Do you think that I would believe you?"

There was no reply and Akito's eyes flared open. The molten chocolate depths were filled with rage.

"I said, do you think that I would believe you?" He was up from his futon and in front of her in the space of a second. "Admit it; you are just like the others, trying to make use of me. The Souma clan tolerates me because I am their trump card; they sacrifice my life to avoid their own demise. I don't know what you want from me, but whatever it is, you won't get it!"

Yume was shocked. Was that how he thought of her? That she was just trying to make use of him to get to what she wants?

"Akito…You are mistaken."

A harsh laugh escaped from him.

"Pardon me," He asked softly. Yume was always amazed Akito's personality; he was a man of many contrasting characteristics, and it always surprised her whenever they showed. "For I was mistaken. You are not using me to get what you want, right?"

Warily, Yume nodded. What was he up to now?

"After all, you have already got what you want. You have already got me where you wanted for a long time already, weeks ago in fact. What I want to know is why are you taking your time now?"

"What are you talking about?" The redhead cried, clearly confused now. Everything was quickly spiraling out of her grasp and if she does not get to the bottom of this problem soon, things were going to get out of control.

"What am I talking about?" Akito strode to his desk, pulled opened one of the drawers and reached his hand into it. He took whatever it was out of the drawer and slammed it close. Eyes cold with fury, he made his way to her side and smashed whatever he was holding onto her palm.

Yume stared at the gun in her hand in shock. Why did he keep a gun in his room?

"This is what I am talking about. Why don't you just put me out of my misery now and kill me?" his anger turned to barely concealed pain as he continued, looking accusingly at her all the while. "All those talks you gave me about cherishing life when you were in actuality planning to kill me. How could you?"

Comprehension occurred to Yume.

"You think that…"

"You are the assassin who was sent to finish me off. I should have known." Akito sneered. "The first attempt was poison, and everyone knows that poison is a woman's weapon. You weren't that lucky then though, and so you are now here under the guise of a nurse to kill me, am I right?"

Yume did not know whether to laugh or to cry. Really, she could not fault Akito's suspicions. Anyone would think that assassination was her motive. She was about to clear the air when Akito grabbed hold of her gun hand and pointed it to his chest.

"Go on then," he said quietly. "Kami knows that I am sick of this pathetic excuse of a life. At least you were right; I am bitter and I hate myself all the more for it, and maybe this would be for the best."

Akito closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable.

It never came.

"You are a coward, Akito."

The man reopened his eyes and found that Yume was on the other side of the room and that the gun had been returned to the desk.

"You bought the gun to kill yourself, didn't you?"

Akito stiffened and looked at Yume, but her back was facing him.

"You tried to kill yourself but you backed out. That's why it was kept hidden in your drawer." Yume turned and her eyes were emerald fire. "You were scared of killing yourself but that wouldn't be a problem if someone did the deed for you and help end your misery. You are so selfish, Akito."

'How did she know that?' The man thought wildly. 'I had never told anyone, not even Hatori. They do not even know.'

* * *

_It had been two years ago when the girl Honda Tohru had entered the lives of the Souma family. Akito had tried his hardest to repel her away from the clan, even going to the extent of releasing the cat spirit within Kyo. He was so certain that Tohru would definitely disappear from their lives then. But it was not to be; to his annoyance, the wretched girl had the gall to visit him the very next day. _

"_It must be horrible to know that you were born just to die." _

_He remembered that sentence very well, and it hurt to realize that she was correct. He was born to die for the Soumas. He was given no choice at all in that matter. So why not end all this suffering now? Since that he was going to die anyway. It was but a matter of time. The next day, he had discreetly sent for a servant to a well-known weaponry supplier for a gun. After all, the Soumas had connections everywhere. He got his gun that very afternoon._

_Akito had planned it so well. He was determined that that night would be his last. He interacted with his clan members normally, but everything had seemed so surreal; it was as if he was a third person, merely observing. And he saw a lot, more than he ever did in his entire life. _

_Soon it was time, and he retreated to his room and dismissed the servants. He still remembered clearly all that happened that night. He had sat there by the corridor, observing the stars and the brightness of the moon. He daydreamed until it was midnight. Until it was time. Then, mechanically, he had gotten up, approached the desk, pulled opened the drawer and removed the gun. Its cold and metallic surface fascinated him; how trite that a weapon of power would be so cold and dead. _

_He put it against his temple, and released the safety catch. _

_Click. _

_He prepared to pull the trigger. _

_But he could not do it. _

_Now that he thought of it, it was if that he had frozen up and could not move, not even to pull that trigger that will release him from this wretched life. Fear is such a strong motivator sometimes, and it does what it can to protect your body, even when it is against your very self. _

_At last, with disgust, he lowered the gun, pulled open the drawer and tossed it back in. _

_He never touched the gun again. _

_Until now.

* * *

_

Yume looked at Akito. He seemed to be deep in thoughts. She had made a wild guess earlier, and she had been on the mark. It had been glaringly obvious; a man who keeps a gun near his grasp and offering it to the first person, asking to be killed.

Akito was a man who had no will to live. It was no wonder to her that he was so frail most of the time. This is a man who was not interested in life. There was no doubt that he had been feeling like that since he was very young. Yume was amazed that he had managed to live this long, surviving by a will as weak as his. She wondered what had held death off for so long and came to one conclusion.

Hate.

Akito's hatred and resentment had been his strongest emotion, and in turn, his will had fed on it and allowed him to be the person that he was now. Strangely enough, Yume was fiercely proud of him. Had he not, after all, survived against all odds? He had been expected to die young, and yet he had passed his twentieth birthday. Yume realized that she should not blame him for his hatred; had it not been present in him, Akito would have had died a long time ago.

* * *

The man stared through his binoculars, and his lips thinned with anger. Things had not been going well for him, and he had to do something quick to change that. His client had not been pleased with his failure. Akito is now alone with his nursemaid, and now was probably the best time to strike.

Grimly, he leapt off the tree and over the wall into Souma property. It was the biggest piece of land that he had ever seen, and he shook his head at the whims of the rich. Now that he was in, he methodically cleared his head for what was to come.

It was time.

* * *

"How did you know?"

Yume snapped out of her thoughts, and flicked a glance at Akito. His eyes were not turbulent anymore, but a curious chocolate brown.

She shrugged.

"You assume that you are the only one who welcomes death. As I said before, there are other things worse than death."

Reminded of their unfinished conversation in the park, Akito stared at Yume.

"Who are you?"

But Yume was not paying attention to him anymore.

In a fluid move that surprised Akito, Yume quickly put herself in front of Akito and grabbed the gun.

"Nanda?"

Yume scanned the room carefully.

"Someone is outside," Yume whispered.

Akito was about to demand why she was so uptight about it when the redhead added, "And he is trying to sneak in."

Akito closed his mouth. Questions flooded his mind, but he had the good sense not to ask them now. Who is Yume? And how had she sensed whoever it was that is outside when he was not even aware?

Yume was wondering about the motive behind this mysterious person when he disappeared. Yume frowned. It was as if that he had left the vicinity; she could hardly sense him anymore.

Gun in hand, Yume, together with Akito, cautiously approached the corridor. She was about to whip open the sliding doors when the sharp, deadly scalpels tore through the rice paper covering the door.

'Shimatta.' There was no time, and Yume instinctively reacted.

"Akito, watch out!" She leapt at the man and both of them crashed to the floor.

The pair stayed there for a while before Yume decided that it was safe to move. There was no doubt, the assassin have left by now. Supporting herself by the elbows, she stared down at Akito.

"Daijoubu ka?"

Akito found himself strangely mesmerized by Yume's eyes. Due to the excitement earlier, her pupils were dilated and they glowed green. He did not know what he was about to do, but whatever it was, he quickly curbed it by turning his face away from hers and nodding curtly.

"Yokatta." Yume scooted backwards and knelt down, waiting for Akito to seat up. The redhead blinked furiously. Something was wrong; the edges around her vision were blurry.

"Yume." Akito said sharply. Yume tried to focus on him but found it very hard to do so. She lurched alarmingly.

"Akito, I…"

Her eyelashes fluttered close and she slumped against him, unconscious. Frowning, Akito stood up and anchored her to him tightly, for she was very slippery.

'Wait a moment. Slippery?'

Akito raised one hand to his line of vision. His hand was slick with blood. Akito looked down and saw that Yume's back was covered with the scalpels. Immediately, Akito did the one thing that he does best.

He yelled for Hatori.

* * *

Okay. I end this chapter here. Heheh…cliffie!

Domo for all the reviews! Thanks! Now that I know that there are people waiting for my updates, I will try to write faster and I promise that I will update this fic every alternate Saturday.

You see, I am multi-tasking and am juggling three long fics at one go. ;; And no, I have not run out of inspiration at all; it just takes me longer to write chapters as I alternate between fics. I will try to live up to your expectations though!

This chapter is satisfying enough, ne? A little dark and angsty though. A hint of Yume's past, Akito's reevaluating his thinking, a case of mistaken identity and the assassin strikes! Hope that this is worth the wait! Review and tell me what you think, okay, minna-san? Ja!


	4. Will You Live For Me?

To Melt A Frozen Heart  
  
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fruits Basket or any of its characters. I wish though.  
  
= at another place  
  
'...'= thoughts  
  
= dream sequence  
  
= recall  
  
That's all for now. Enjoy, minna-san!!  
  
Chapter 4-Will You Live For Me?  
  
DREAM SEQUENCE  
  
Yume...  
  
The red-haired girl turned to the source calling her name.  
  
"Nanda? Who are you?"  
  
There was silence, and the darkness that engulfed everything except her made Yume cringe in fear. Darkness always brings misfortune; she had learnt that the hard way.  
  
"Won't you come out?" The girl cried out in frustration borne of fear. "Where am I? Where is this place?"  
  
"Yume." The voice was achingly familiar, and Yume whipped around sharply in the hopes of seeing this mysterious person.  
  
"Wha..."  
  
DREAM SEQUENCE  
  
"What happened? How is she?" Shigure and Ayame had just entered Hatori's practice. They had gotten the news of the assignation attempt some half an hour ago and had arrived as soon as they could.  
  
"Yeah, is Yume-san...." What Shigure realized that he had directed his question to Akito; he turned and asked Hatori instead. "Is Yume-san all right?"  
  
The doctor shrugged.  
  
Ayame was outraged.  
  
"What do you mean by a shrug, Ha-chan?!! You are a doctor, for kami sake!! You can't just go around shrugging!!"  
  
"I have done what I can; the bleeding was stopped, and the wounds stitched and bandaged. She had lost quite a lot of blood though, but no internal organs were ruptured. All that we have to do now is to wait for her to awaken, and that depends on her own willpower to live."  
  
"Sou ka..." That was Shigure. "So is she out of danger already?"  
  
Hatori nodded.  
  
"Why are you so concerned about her?" Ayame asked.  
  
Shigure looked affronted.  
  
"Of course I am anxious!! She is Akito's bo...OUCH!!!" The brunette glared at Ayame, who had elbowed him in the ribs. "er...she is Akito's nurse, and a pretty one at that!! Can't have all the pretty girls dying on me, ne?"  
  
Hatori suppressed the urge to roll his eyes; why he had such idiotic cousins/friends, he did not know.  
  
"Can we go in and see her?  
  
"Not unless I accompany you."  
  
DREAM SEQUENCE  
  
"Wha..."  
  
A tall, lanky young man stood a few feet away. He had long, pristine white hair that reached past mid-thigh, and sharp emerald green eyes. His cheekbones were high and elegant, structuring an aristocratic and arrogant face.  
  
Yume gasped, and her eyes widened in recognition.  
  
"Ryo..." Yume breathed almost hopefully, and her eyes softened with love. "Ryo, is it really you?"  
  
The man in question was not that loving in his reply, however. He merely nodded with annoyed impatience.  
  
"Yes, you half-cracked idiot, it is really me. What are you doing here, carrothead? What stupid stunt have you pulled now to land yourself here, baka?!!"  
  
Normally the redhead would have taken offense at the insults, but this time, she let it go because it was Ryo.  
  
"I...I don't know." Yume muttered at last, moving closer towards the handsome man.  
  
She pinched him.  
  
"Ow!!" Narrowed green eyes glared at her. "What the bloody hell are you trying to do?!!"  
  
Yume could not help it; she grinned.  
  
"It really IS you." The redhead threw herself at the man and gave him a tight hug.  
  
"I missed you so much, Ryo." Yume murmured, content to be in his arms.  
  
"Me too," Came the gruff reply. "I missed you too, Yu." The girl felt Ryo's lips caress the top of her head.  
  
Suddenly, Yume stiffened.  
  
DREAM SEQUENCE  
  
As one, the Mabudatchi trio turned to stare at Akito, who had not spoken until now.  
  
"We may not go in unless you are with us, Akito-sama?" Ayame squeaked the question.  
  
The man did not answer the hebi's redundant question but walked towards one of the closed doors and opened them.  
  
"While we are inside, the three of you will tell me who Yume really is." The patriarch said frigidly. Cold brown eyes regarded the trio. "I may be dying, but I am not stupid. You will tell me everything." He entered the room.  
  
Shigure and Ayame turned to Hatori with a What-the-hell-is-going-on look which the doctor returned with yet another shrug.  
  
"As Akito said; he is not stupid. He will catch on sooner or later."  
  
With a sigh, the blossom trio trudged into the room, prepared to face the music.  
  
DREAM SEQUENCE  
  
Suddenly, Yume stiffened.  
  
"MATTE!! If you are dead and I am seeing you, does this means that I am..."  
  
"Dead?" Ryo released his hold on the girl and pried her off him.  
  
Yume nodded, and the man glared forcefully at her again.  
  
"That issue is the reason why I am here looking for you, you baka."  
  
"What?!! What did I do now?!!" Ryo always made her feel useless and idiotic.  
  
"You don't understand, do you, Yu?" Ryo smiled affectionately at the confused girl then, all traces of annoyance gone. "You are not supposed to be here."  
  
"No? Demo..."  
  
"In other words, your time is not up yet. You have to go back."  
  
The redhead shook her head forcefully.  
  
"IIE!! I will not go back." She forcibly attached herself to Ryo. "You are here, that's all that matters. I will stay here with you!!"  
  
Again, the man gave the younger girl a tender smile.  
  
"You can't Yu. It is not our time yet. You have to go back and do your things, all the things that you want to do. Fulfill your dreams. Fall in love. Whatever it is that you want."  
  
The redhead glared angrily at Ryo now.  
  
"Ok, what I want now is to STAY HERE!!"  
  
DREAM SEQUENCE  
  
They stared at the pale girl who was currently lying so stilly on the bed. She was covered by snowy sheets and blankets, and somehow, it had made her even more bloodless. The only thing that looked alive was her hair. The fiery mane shimmered with life.  
  
Yume looked defenseless, and incredibly fragile. She did not look like she had just taken an assassination attack for Akito. In fact, had she not looked that...pale, she could have passed for an innocently slumbering girl. However, the IV drips attached to various parts of her appendage and the beeps of the bulky and ugly-looking machines that were monitoring her vitals told the real story.  
  
Ayame shook his head sadly; taking in the wretched sight of Yume. She had been polite and smiling a month ago when she first met them.  
  
"I think that now is a good time to tell me exactly what had been going on."  
  
Shigure winced and met the stares of Hatori and Ayame, and as one, they made a decision.  
  
The truth has to be revealed. Akito have to be told. It would be unfair for Yume if their patriarch did not know or appreciate what the girl assassin had done for him.  
  
Yume deserved that at the very least.  
  
DREAM SEQUENCE  
  
"Ok, what I want now is to STAY HERE!!"  
  
The smile was sad now, and the white-haired man shook his head sadly in denial.  
  
"I am sorry pet, but I can't grant that."  
  
"Demo..."  
  
Ryo's emerald eyes turned fierce then.  
  
"Do you remember what you promised me, Yu? Do you remember?"  
  
Eyes brimming with tears, the girl nodded.  
  
"Demo this is not the same!!"  
  
"What is not the same?" Ryo asked harshly. "It is the same!! Or are you planning to renege on your promise?"  
  
Yume shook her head resolutely, and the man's anger disappeared just as quickly as it had come.  
  
"I know that you are not like that, Yu. You always keep your promises, ne?" Ryo lifted a finger to caress her cheek. The same cheek where tears are coursing down from now. "Don't cry. You are always so strong, my Yu. Be strong now. Don't cry."  
  
DREAM SEQUENCE  
  
"You are telling me that you hired an assassin to protect me from an assassin?" Akito's eyes were narrowed as they seek for confirmation.  
  
Shigure nodded.  
  
"It had seemed like a good idea at that time." The man mumbled.  
  
Ayame looked at his morose cousin sharply.  
  
"It IS a good idea. As unfeeling as it might sound, Yume did manage to shield Akito from the attack, didn't she?"  
  
"You think that it is perfectly all right that a girl younger than me is sent here, prepared to sacrifice her life to prevent me, a cursed person, from being killed?" Akito looked murderously at Ayame, who moved warily to put some distance between him and the patriarch.  
  
"Iie, I do not mean that it is perfectly all right. But Yume is a professional," Ayame defended. "She knows what she is doing."  
  
Akito threw a hand out to indicate the unconscious girl.  
  
"And do you think that anyone would willingly prepare herself for that? There is nobody in this world who is willing to die for another, but...." Akito had a very surprised look on his face, as realization dawned. "But she had willingly threw herself in front of me to protect me from the attack." The man ended in a very soft, bewildered whisper.  
  
The snake wisely kept his comments to himself this time. It was obvious that his replies are doing nothing but angering the patriarch even more.  
  
Shigure and Hatori exchanged a stunned look.  
  
Does Akito care for Yume, even a little bit?  
  
Shigure began to grin insanely, away from Akito's sight of course. So the patriarch is human after all. He has a heart.  
  
"Ayame," Akito said at last, finally getting over his shock.  
  
"Yes, Akito-sama?" The snake asked timidly.  
  
"You were the one who contracted Yume, right?"  
  
"Hai."  
  
"Tell me what you know about her."  
  
"H...hai." Befuddled, Ayame begun to tell Akito all that he knew about Yume.  
  
Shigure continued his crazy grinning.  
  
When Ayame was done recounting, it was then that they realized Yume was crying.  
  
DREAM SEQUENCE  
  
"I know that you are not like that, Yu. You always keep your promises, ne?" Ryo lifted a finger to caress her cheek. The same cheek where tears are coursing down from now. "Don't cry. You are always so strong, my Yu. Be strong now. Don't cry."  
  
The girl nodded blindly as the tears continued. She looked at the hand that the white-haired man had used to touch her. They were so slim, so elegant. An artist's hands. But its owner had held so much strength and willpower to be just a mere artist. The same pair of hands that had always wiped away her tears and protected her from pain had also wielded the katana so very flawlessly. Ultimately, it had also been the same two hands that had pushed her away from harm.  
  
Pushed her away from harm to take the killing blow for her.  
  
"I never regretted what I did, Yume." Ryo spoke up, as if he heard her thoughts. "It was my duty to protect you. I promised that as long as I am around, no harm will befall you. I promised, remember?" Bright emerald eyes stared at Yume's, willing her to understand.  
  
"Yes, I remember," The redhead said bitterly. "You kept your promise till the very end. How could I not remember?"  
  
"Yes, I did, didn't I?" Ryo smiled wryly. "I kept my promise just like you are going to keep yours. Just like you promised me, right?"  
  
Yume found that she could not refuse Ryo. Not when he had worded it like that.  
  
She nodded.  
  
"Hai, Ryo." The redhead intoned listlessly. "I promise to live for you."  
  
DREAM SEQUENCE  
  
"Ryo..."  
  
They stared at each other.  
  
"Hey, Ha-chan," Shigure asked conversationally. "Do we know of a Ryo?"  
  
The doctor shook his head.  
  
"Not that I know of any."  
  
"What about you, Aya?"  
  
The snake affirmed negative.  
  
"That's weird." Shigure frowned. "I don't know a Ryo either. Who do you think this fellow is?"  
  
"Her past." Akito said quietly. He was very certain that this Ryo is someone from her past. Someone very important.  
  
RECALL  
  
"There are other things worse than death. Be glad that you don't know them."  
  
RECALL  
  
Had Ryo been someone she had lost?  
  
Yume thrashed unconsciously on the bed, breaking Akito's thoughts and drawing his attention to her.  
  
"Ryo..." She whimpered; the tears had not abated, and unconsciously, Akito gently wiped them away with the back of his knuckles. The Mabudatchi looked at one another with raised eyebrows.  
  
It was driving Akito nuts wondering about this mysterious man. Why is he so important to Yume that she would keep calling out for him even at her weakest?  
  
"Ryo," Yume cried out again. "I promise to live for you."  
  
DREAM SEQUENCE  
  
"Hai, Ryo." The redhead intoned listlessly. "I promise to live for you."  
  
The man's eyes lit up then.  
  
"Don't look so sad, Yu. I will always be here, right by your side. I swear. We will be together again when your time is up, when you are ready to join me. But for now," Ryo stooped down and kissed Yume's forehead gently. "I love you, Yu. Always remember that."  
  
The girl was about to respond to that when she felt an unseen force tugging her away from Ryo.  
  
"Iie!! Matte, Ryo!! We still have a lot to talk about!! MATTE!!"  
  
It was as if a huge gust of wind is blowing her away. She tried to clutch at the white-haired man but to no avail.  
  
Ryo, on the other hand, did not even attempt to anchor her to him, damn his handsome hide. Yume watched with disgust as the man waved cheerfully at her diminishing form.  
  
"Aishiteru, Yume!!"  
  
Fate had chosen to tear her away from Ryo's side again.  
  
Unbidden, tears welled up to the surface, much to the redhead's annoyance. When had she become such a crybaby? She should at least pretend to be happy, because knowing Ryo; he would be worried if she left him in such a wretched state. Steeling herself, Yume forced a watery smile and waved hesitantly back at Ryo, whispering all the while.  
  
"Aishiteru, onii-chan."  
  
DREAM SEQUENCE  
  
"Machine...what's that beeping...means? ...she...going to die..."  
  
"...idiot..."  
  
"She is waking up..."  
  
"...see that...her hands...twitching..."  
  
Yume's eyes shot open, and the emerald depths were wide and unfocused. All that she could see were glaring bright lights. The brightness lessened gradually and when Yume's eyes finally refocused, she saw that she was lying prone on a bed and that Shigure and Ayame were hovering anxiously over her. A visual sweep across the room told her that Hatori was adjusting the IV drips by her side and that Akito was sitting rather casually at the other end of the room.  
  
"Daijoubu ka, Yume-san?"  
  
That was Ayame and he looked pretty anxiously at the redhead.  
  
"Yeah, how do you feel?" Shigure seconded.  
  
Yume was touched by the concerned that these almost-strangers are giving her. Most of the time, whenever she ended up injured, she always woke up alone in a hospital bed. No concerned friends, no anything.  
  
"Yume-san?" Ayame waved his hand in front of her, breaking her thoughts.  
  
"Oh, yeah, I am all right." Yume croaked. "Feels like shit though."  
  
Two thirds of the Mabudatchi looked surprised at the redhead's remark, but they got over it pretty quickly and grinned at Yume. Hatori merely snorted and mumbled something under his breath.  
  
Shigure was about to ask the doctor to repeat what he was mumbling earlier on when the man ordered everyone out of the room so as to give Yume a thorough checkup.  
  
With practiced eased, he turned Yume over on her stomach and began looking at the wounds. When he was satisfied that everything is healing exactly the way he wanted, he rewrapped them with fresh bandages and gently helped the redhead to lie on her back again.  
  
Yume waited for Hatori to question her about the scars on her back, but to her surprise, they never came. The man merely told her gruffly that she is to stay here for the next few days until her wounds are healed enough for her to move about.  
  
"You are not going to ask?" Yume said huskily.  
  
"It is not in my place to question your past." Hatori said at last after a long silence. "If you wanted us to know, you would have told us a long time ago. All that we need to know is that you are doing a good job now." Hatori had all but told her that they are not going to judge her by her past. Yume smiled gratefully at him, and he left the room soon after.  
  
With nothing to occupy her attention and the fact that her body was still exhausted from the day's events, Yume was about to drift off in slumber when she heard the room door open.  
  
Shaking herself awake, Yume turned to see who the visitor is.  
  
"Why did you shield me from the attack?"  
  
Yume stared at Akito.  
  
"I...I am sure that Shigure-san had told you the truth already. I am, after all, your bodyguard." Yume stammered. "I am paid to protect you."  
  
Chocolate eyes narrowed and it was obvious that Akito was not buying any of her excuses.  
  
"You are willing to die for the money? Last time I heard, it is not possible to bring money to the afterlife, and I know that you do not have any relatives at all."  
  
Yume turned her head away; Akito had hit the nail on the head.  
  
Why is she risking so much to protect him?  
  
She did not know.  
  
Akito refused to be ignored, and placing a finger on her chin, he turned her head around to face him.  
  
Emerald clashed with brown.  
  
"Answer me." Akito demanded.  
  
"Atashi wa...atashi wa...wakarinai." Yume wanted to look at anything other than Aktio.  
  
"You don't know?"  
  
There was a long pause.  
  
"You should have let me die."  
  
At that dull, deadened comment, Yume whipped around and glared at Akito.  
  
"IIE!! You have no idea how precious life is, do you?" The redhead was furious, and she made no attempt to hide it. "All you can think about is how miserable your life is!! What about others? Everything is about you, you, YOU!! You are so selfish. You want to throw away your life when there are others who would do anything for it."  
  
Akito did not like the fact that Yume had branded him selfish.  
  
"You have never lived my life before, so don't presume that you know me." Unlike other people who got louder and louder when they are angered, Akito goes the opposite way. He becomes softer and colder. "I would willingly give my life to whoever wants it."  
  
Stunned silence, then...  
  
"Naze?" Yume could not understand.  
  
Akito did not answer; instead, he strode towards the door and opened them quietly. As he stepped through them, he whispered.  
  
"Because my life is empty. Because I have nothing to live for. Because I have no one to live for."  
  
AT ANOTHER PLACE/TIME  
  
The next few days flew past very quickly. Drugged by anesthetics, Yume was asleep most of the time and her wounds healed quickly.  
  
Akito never visited again after their confrontation. It was later that she was informed by the blossom trio that Akito is being closely watched by the servants and not allowed outside.  
  
Shigure and Ayame dropped in fairly often, and as Hatori. He is, after all, the doctor.  
  
Another one of her frequent visitor was Shisho, who came in everyday after school. He would always be bearing some wildflowers for her, and Yume looked forward to his visits.  
  
The younger Soumas came once too, accompanied by the girl Tohru. Kyou, Yuki, Momiji and Haru; if her memory serves her. It had been an unusual experience; due to her unique occupation, Yume was seldom in contact with people her own age and the group of teenagers had been interesting, to say the least.  
  
Very soon, Hatori had declared her well enough to return to her suite of rooms, and for that, Yume was relieved. It had been annoying, not being allowed to move about the place. Shigure and Ayame had came specially to help her back, and once she was settled nicely in the bed in her own room, the duo bustled off after repeated warnings for her to stay put. The redhead smiled politely and agreed on everything that they said until they walked out of the door.  
  
Yume flopped on the bed, and the wounds on her back protested. Yume winced slightly; she had forgotten about them. They were still sore, and Hatori had not removed the stitches yet. She still had wait for another week or so.  
  
"Home sweet home." Yume murmured to herself, and mused as to when she had started regarded this place as her home.  
  
Content to be on her own bed at last, the girl was about to fall asleep when the silence of the room got to her.  
  
RECALL  
  
"Because my life is empty. Because I have nothing to live for. Because I have no one to live for."  
  
RECALL  
  
Yume cursed silently when that particular memory chose that moment to resurface on her mind. Akito's words had been plaguing her for the past few days, despite all efforts to repress them, and now, it had made her fully awake.  
  
She did not know why, but something about the cruel patriarch of the Souma clan called out to her. It was as if Akito was...asking for help.  
  
'But that is stupid.' Yume chided herself. 'Asking for help? Why would he ask for help, and if he really did, why would he ask you too, of all people. The man has everything. The respect of his clan. The world at his feet. What more does he need?'  
  
'Someone to live for. He needs someone to live for.' Her subconscious whispered.  
  
Yume's eyes widened in shock.  
  
"But...why me? I am nothing, just an ordinary person among the millions." Yume waited for a reply, but found none. She rolled her eyes.  
  
"Great, now I am talking to myself. This Akito issue is driving me batty." Even as she said those words, the redhead found herself deep in thoughts again.  
  
'I promised to live for Ryo,' Emerald eyes clouded over.  
  
'Can Akito promise to live for me?'  
  
Heheh...as promised, minna-san!! Chapter 4!! I hope that it is good enough for you peeps!! A big chunk of Yume's past, and I think that I am falling in love with my OC, Ryo!! Damn, why must I fall in love with my OCs all the time?!! huggles Ryo, Kamui, Akai, Aoi and Haiiro all the same Heheheh....  
  
Well, that's all for now!! Until next time, please review!! I'd really like some feedbacks as to what you guys think of this chapter!! Domo!! 


	5. Yes, I Will Die For You

To Melt A Frozen Heart  
  
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fruits Basket or any of its characters. I wish though.  
  
########## = at another place  
  
'...'= thoughts  
  
= dream sequence  
  
= recall  
  
Some translation here...  
  
Ikkou----Let's go  
  
Imoto-chan---- Little sister  
  
That's all for now. Enjoy, minna-san!!  
  
Chapter 5-Yes, I Will Die For You  
  
Yume was very nervous, which was pretty understandable as today would be the first day that she would see Akito again after the assassination attempt. From what she had gathered from the Mabudatchi trio, she is still to remain under the guise of a nurse to protect Akito. It seemed that for some unknown reason, the patriarch had agreed for Yume to continue her duties here, much to the relief of the blossom trio.  
  
It had been two weeks since she had been stabbed, and now, Yume stood before the closed doors of Akito's room. She took a deep breath and steeled herself before knocking gently on the doors.  
  
"Akito? I am coming in."  
  
The redhead did not wait for an answer; she was afraid that she would not have the courage to enter if she heard Akito's voice before seeing him. Immediately, she slid open the door and entered hurriedly before closing the doors again. As usual, Yume was greeted with semi-darkness. The room balcony doors and windows were closed again, and the room smelled musty and stuffy.  
  
Yume waited for her eyes to adjust to the darkness before scanning the room for its occupant. Oddly enough, she found Akito resting on his futon, propped up against the pillows. He did not seem to acknowledge her presence, and it was as if the first time that they had met. Annoyed, the redhead strode to the windows and pushed them open in the most violent manner. The exquisite and expansive window panels hit the walls outside and ricocheted back. Yume did not notice; and proceeded towards the balcony doors to do the same thing. The girl only stopped when all windows and doors were opened and that the room was sufficiently bright again.  
  
Akito watched quietly as Yume stormed around the room in a fine fit of anger. It was the first time that he saw her in such a state, and it fascinated him. Normally, Yume was cool and composed; the perpetual ice queen. But Akito quickly found out that when the redhead was riled, she was breathtaking. Her emerald eyes sparkled, her cheeks were flushed, and she slunk around the room like an infuriated kitten. He was undeniably attracted to her fury.  
  
'So all the rumors about a redhead's temper is true after all.' Akito mused.  
  
Yume stood in front of the futon and glared at Akito. Her worries forgotten, she demanded.  
  
"I thought that we had an agreement, Akito? The windows and doors in your room are supposed to be opened for ventilation!! The air outside is fresher and can aid in making you healthier, why can't you understand that?"  
  
Akito stared at Yume in shock.  
  
She was not angry because of his failure to acknowledge her presence, but because of the windows? Because of his wellbeing?  
  
"What?" Yume snapped irritably. "Did you hear what I just said?"  
  
Immediately, the man broke out of his thoughts and unthinkingly replied.  
  
"The servants did not open them," Akito said in the snootiest manner, in the Do-you-really-expect-me-to-do-mundane-things-like-these-myself? kind of tone. Yume could not help but twitch her lips in a slight smile. She was glad that Akito was just like his usual haughty self. Her smile, however, did not last long. It disappeared the moment Akito asked, "Besides, why do you care?"  
  
'Yeah, what is it to you then? Why do you care so much about him? He is just but a client, ne?' an inner voice whispered. 'Why are you so concerned?'  
  
"Atashi wa...atashi wa...I am your body guard." Yume replied almost defensively, and Akito's eyebrows shot up. "It would give me even more troubles if you were to get sick. Besides, I am supposed to be your nurse. I have to look after you."  
  
"Is that so?" The patriarch asked in a deliberate manner, and the redhead regarded him suspiciously.  
  
"H...hai." Yume cursed herself, and prayed that he did not notice her faint hesitation in her answer, but one look at Akito told her that he had indeed taken note of that.  
  
The redhead froze as the pair made eye contact.  
  
Confused emerald met amused chocolate.  
  
Almost immediately, Yume forced herself to break eye contact, muttering all the while.  
  
"I must really go and tell off those servants...anyone with common sense would know that open-air rooms are good ventilation...unless..."  
  
'The servants did not care enough to even do something as simple as that?'  
  
Yume felt herself getting riled up all over again.  
  
'This is the Souma patriarch, who is sacrificing his life for all them, and yet they treat him like that? How could they? Did they want him to die so quickly then?'  
  
Fascinated, Akito watched as Yume began to fume again. He could literally see the steam floating out of her ears.  
  
'Now what is she riled up about?'  
  
Unknown to Yume, Akito got up elegantly from the futon and approached her.  
  
"I really have to go and make some changes about the attitude of these servants, and tell Hatori too, come to think of it." Yume mumbled to herself. She was about to turn to tell Akito that she is leaving to find Hatori when she saw him right behind her, giving her a shock. "A...Akito? What are you doing out of bed?"  
  
"This." Akito said simply.  
  
Yume watched in stunned surprise as the man bent down and kissed her on the lips. It was a chaste kiss, and lasted barely five seconds, but Yume could feel his lips so very acutely. They were soft and demanding, just like the man himself. Akito tasted just like the sweet air before a storm, and Yume was instantly addicted. When Akito skillfully tapered off the intimate contact, the redhead was dazed and bemused, much to his satisfaction.  
  
"What was that for?" Yume demanded, infuriated with herself that she had allowed Akito, Akito, of all the people in the world, to do that to her.  
  
The patriarch stared down at her ruffled expression and smiled. It was just a tiny twitch of his lips and the curious lightening of his molten brown gaze, but Yume was once again surprised, because this is probably the first time she had seen him genuinely amused.  
  
She knew that under this kind of circumstances, she should not show delight as Akito would be encouraged by that and would most probably try to take some other liberties with her the next time, but the knowledge that she had managed to make him smile had in turn made her very glad, and thus, she allowed her own eyes to light up in pleasure.  
  
Akito was once again struck by how Yume was looking more and more beautiful to him with the passing of every single day. He had not planned to kiss her earlier on, but when he neared her, the curiosity was just too great and he was tempted to find out what Yume tasted like.  
  
Vanilla.  
  
Yume tasted like vanilla essence. Rich, smooth and creamy. Akito was overwhelmed by it all, and was enticed to do more than just a chaste kiss when he forced himself to break off their contact. He would have wanted to do more, but instincts told him that the two of them were just not ready. There were just too many things between them. Too many secrets and half- truths. They would have to sort those out before they could proceed to a more intimate level.  
  
"That was a thank you kiss."  
  
"Nani?" Yume watched, bewildered, as Akito's amused expression faded into one of grimace and he moved away from her and headed towards the doors, adjusting his yukata along the way. Once he reached the threshold, he turned, and the girl was disappointed to find out that he had his usual implacable expression back on.  
  
"For all that you have done for me."  
  
"Oh." For some reason, Yume was disappointed. He had kissed her because she had done her job well. He had kissed her as a reward, not because he really wanted to. To Akito, she was most probably like a clever puppy that had deserved a pat on the head.  
  
'So what is it to you then?' Her inner consciousness asked again. 'Aren't you supposed to be uninterested in him at all?'  
  
Yume shook her head confusedly. Of course she has no feelings for Akito!! How could she? He is nothing but a client, and that is the way she wanted things to remain.  
  
"Are you coming?"  
  
"Coming? Where to?"  
  
Akito looked impatiently at the redhead.  
  
"You have not been hearing me at all, do you? I said that I am going to the park, are you coming?"  
  
"Oh...hai." Pushing all her thoughts to one side, Yume hurried after Akito.  
  
'Really,' Yume told herself as she strolled behind the man. 'I feel nothing for Akito.'  
  
##########  
  
They were in the same park that Yume had first brought Akito to, and were seating at the very same bench. Yume stared at her watch. It had been an hour or so since they were in the park, and the two of them had been doing nothing but spending the time seating beside each other in companionable silence.  
  
"Anou...Akito. What are we doing here for?"  
  
The man turned to Yume and shrugged.  
  
"The air is fresh here, is it not?"  
  
Yume nodded.  
  
"Hai." The girl was about to ask if they were waiting for someone when Akito interrupted her.  
  
"Who is Ryo?"  
  
"Nani?!!"  
  
Yume turned panicked emerald eyes to Akito.  
  
"How did you know about Ryo?"  
  
Akito shrugged again.  
  
"You were calling out to him when you were wounded and delirious." Sharp eyes regarded Yume again, taking in all her movements. "So who is he?"  
  
Immediately, the redhead clamped up. Akito could literally feel her pushing him out of her mind and slamming the door on his face. She stiffened and turned frigid.  
  
"Whoever Ryo is, he is none of your business."  
  
Short and anything but sweet, and in turn, it made Akito defensive and angry. Yume's frozen reply had given him his answer. Whoever this Ryo is, he is very important to Yume. But instead of venting his anger like he always does, Akito clamped it down. As difficult as it is for him to admit, caring for a person was an entirely new territory to him, and he does not know how to act in a situation like this.  
  
Akito kept silent.  
  
Yume knew that she had made Akito mad, and she tried to justify it by telling herself that Ryo was entirely none of Akito's business. She had never told anyone about Ryo before, and did not feel that she should start now. It had always hurt whenever she thought of Ryo, and to even try to talk about him was unthinkable. But somehow, after five minutes of tensed silence to be exact, that had not worked at all, and for some unknown reason, Akito's dark mood made her feel unhappy too.  
  
"Ryo was my accomplice. We always did the assignments together."  
  
Akito started at the quiet voice. Turning, he regarded Yume solemnly.  
  
"You don't have to tell me. It is none of my business after all."  
  
"Iie." Yume reached out her left hand and covered it over his right one, which was resting on the bench seat. Unconsciously, she squeezed it, as if trying to gather strength and courage from Akito. "Maybe it is time for me to tell someone about Ryo. He would have wanted me to get over him and move on with life."  
  
Akito turned his right palm over so that the two of them are now holding hands. He tightened his hold on her in a silent show of encouragement. Yume smiled in gratitude.  
  
"As I said, Ryo was my accomplice. He was also my onii-chan."  
  
"Was?" Akito questioned quietly, but in his heart, there was a great relief. Ryo was her brother, not her lover, like he had thought previously.  
  
"Yes. Was." Yume said quietly. Emerald eyes clouded with grief. "Onii-chan loved me deeply and in turn, I adored him as a baby sister does. He always gave me the best that he could provide, and would care for me before he does himself. Do you know why? It is because of his promise, given to me when our parents died of a car accident fourteen years ago. Ryo promised that as long as he lived, he would make sure that I would never get hurt."  
  
RECALL  
  
"Don't cry, Yu-chan. Daijoubu." Everything will be all right." A nine-year old boy assured his five year-old sister. They had just been driven out of their house, and had been circulated all over their relatives' houses for the past few months.  
  
"Kaa-san and tou-san are gone, how can everything be all right again?" Even at a tender age of five, Yume was a distinct worry-wart, the more serious one out of the two siblings.  
  
Ryo stared at his imoto-chan. Her worrying traits were so like their kaa- san, and he could not help but smile, even in a time like that.  
  
"Daijoubu, Yu-chan. Onii-chan is here, and I promise that I will protect you as long as I am alive. You won't be hurt as long as I am by your side."  
  
Awkwardly, the boy, even though merely a child himself, swept his little sister up in a tight hug, the kind that their parents used to give them. This hug, although clumsily given, heralded the start of many such embraces which would be administered to little Yu-chan over the years.  
  
Yume stopped crying and hugged her brother back. "Do you promise?"  
  
Ryo closed his eyes, and the hardship that he would most undoubtedly face soon rose before him, an intimidating challenge, especially for such a little boy like him. But the thought that his little sister; the only real family that he had left now, gave him the courage to fight on. He tightened his hold on the most precious thing in his life.  
  
"Hai. I promise."  
  
RECALL  
  
"And he was right. Ryo never allowed me to pine for anything. He would give me everything in his ability of giving, and made sure that I was happy. WE were happy. He started out as an assassin years before me, and at first, he didn't want me to follow in his path. 'It is a filthy job, Yu-chan. A sinful one. I don't want your hands to be dirtied by blood.' That was what he told me. He did not want me to burn in hell, I guess. But I could not just stand by and watch him like that. I knew without doubt that my happy- go-lucky, always smiling and cheerful onii-chan had chosen this job because of me. He had chosen what he had deemed as 'dirty' occupation because the money that it yields would be used for my benefit." Yume smiled sadly. "My brother was prepared to burn in hell for me, and I would be damned if he is going down alone."  
  
RECALL  
  
"IIE!! I want to be an assassin too, nii-chan!!" A fourteen year-old Yume confronted her brother.  
  
"No means no, Yu. And don't even try to bring that topic up again." Ryo was quiet and very serious, totally unlike his usual self. "It is no joke."  
  
"But why can't I?" Yume challenged angrily. "You thought me how to use the katana since I was ten!! I know how to fight too!!"  
  
At that, Ryo finally erupted.  
  
"Yume, urusai." He never called her by her full name unless he is mad, and when he said her name all quiet-like, it was a clear indicator that Ryo was furious.  
  
Any sane person would have heeded her brother's command, but Yume was never well known for her common sense.  
  
"No, I won't shut up. I won't stop until you give me a good reason why I can't be an assassin!!"  
  
"Okay then." Ryo's green eyes were sharp with anger. "Do you think that it is so easy to be an assassin? Do you know what it feels like when the katana that you are holding pierces through flesh and bone? The sickening sound of a person drowning in this own blood, gurgling away as he stare at you with confusion in his dying gaze? To have to steel yourself to kill a defenseless person, knowing that this person would not live to see the next sunrise, and not being able to tell them to cherish today, to tell their family how much they loved them. To be the cause of someone's dead parent, or spouse. Do you?"  
  
Shocked, the teenager stared as Ryo's eyes turned regretful.  
  
"I have already come to terms with all those. Sure, I feel something whenever I kill, but I push it away because it is my job. Occupation ethics. Assassination is not all adventure, Yu."  
  
"But I never regarded it as an adventure, nii-chan." Yume said quietly after a long silence. Turning eyes filled with determination to look at Ryo, Yume continued. "I want to be an assassin because you are one too. I want to be just as good as onii-chan is."  
  
The white-haired man was still not very convinced, and Yume continued. "At least let me give it a try. I won't do it again if I don't like it, okay, nii-chan?"  
  
Ryo regarded his younger sister for a long moment, and Yume held her breath. At last, he sighed and smiled.  
  
"I guess I don't have a choice here, do I?" Ryo touched his forehead to hers. "Baka. Yu-chan need not follow nii-chan's footsteps. Just be yourself and do what you want."  
  
"But I want to do what you are doing." Yume was determined.  
  
Ryo shook his head slightly.  
  
"We shall see then, carrot."  
  
RECALL  
  
"I killed my first at the age of fifteen, and Ryo was wrong. In fact, I took to assassination like a duck to water. The guilt took some time to get over, but other than that, I had no complains with my occupation. Gradually, Ryo realized that I had not been kidding when I told him to let me to join him and we began doing assignments together. Two years passed like that, and one day, we were about to carry on our assignment. We were supposed to assassinate one of the triad bosses. It seemed that this person was getting too powerful, too fast, and his elders wanted him dead at all costs. By then, my brother and I had made quite a reputation for ourselves, and thus were hired on to do this job. I thought that it would be an easy kill, and had decided to do this without my brother's help. I went the day before we had planned to attack. Never was I more wrong. Let's say that I had gravely underestimated the man whom we were supposed to assassinate." Yume's smile was bitter now, and Akito kept silence, willing her to continue.  
  
"Before I knew it, I had all but fallen into their trap and the boss ordered for me to be tortured." Emerald eyes darkened with memory.  
  
"You were whipped, weren't you?"  
  
Yume stared at Akito.  
  
"You saw the scars."  
  
The patriarch nodded and Yume continued.  
  
"It was only for one day that I was captured, but by the time Ryo came to rescue me, I was hardly recognizable."  
  
RECALL  
  
Katana wielded in both hands, Ryo ran fluidly through the corridors to the underground chambers. He had created enough pandemonium and had shut off all security systems earlier for all the triad guards to immediately abandon all duties to protect their leader, whom they would find was already dead. Ryo thought it appropriate for revenge for capturing Yume. Thinking off his sister, Ryo felt himself getting angry all over again.  
  
What did that baka think she was doing? He was never going to let her on any assignment ever again.  
  
Keeping his thoughts in check, Ryo skidded around a corner only to be greeted by the most horrifying sight. It took him a while to recognize Yume. His little imoto-chan had been whipped, and savagely so too. Yume was shackled and chained to the ceiling so that she was hanging freely. Blood flowed freely and dripped from her body in great amounts. A closer inspection saw that her back had been ripped to shreds.  
  
Ryo's emerald eyes darkened with grief; how Yume must have suffered so. He had failed in his promise to protect her. Hesitantly, the man approached his sister.  
  
"Yu, Yu wake up." He took the keys that had been hanging from a nearby wall and begun freeing her from her chains.  
  
Yume's eyes fluttered open.  
  
"Nii-chan?"  
  
"Hai, I am here to bring you back home now, Yu." Ryo supported Yume's bloodied form when she was finally free from the chains and wrapped her with his cloak. "Ikkou, I need to get you to a hospital."  
  
"Hai, nii-chan." Yume closed her eyes wearily; content to be in her brother's arms.  
  
Taking advantage of the pandemonium of the situation, Ryo was about to slip off with his beloved burden when they were noticed. Immediately, the siblings found themselves being attacked from all angles.  
  
"Put me down, Ryo." Yume commanded weakly. "I can stand. You need to concentrate on the fight."  
  
Ryo nodded grimly and quickly lowered Yume onto the ground; he turned his attention to the fight immediately. Yume watched as her brother held his own against the dozen or so men that kept coming at him. So engrossed with observing the battle, Yume had failed to notice a man creeping up behind her. But Ryo had. With a malicious grin, the man was about to plunge his knife into her back when Ryo pushed her away and intercepted.  
  
The next few moments seemed to happen in slow motion. Stunned by what she had just seen, Yume looked on wide-eyed as Ryo pitched forward, the knife still stuck to his back like some kind of nightmare. Just then, the police arrived, but Yume did not care. To her, everything came to a standstill and the world consisted of only her and her dying brother.  
  
"Onii-chan." Yume whispered. "ONII-CHAN!!"  
  
The girl crawled to the fallen body of her brother, and with the remaining of her strength; she turned Ryo over, careful not to jolt the knife that is hilted within his back.  
  
Ryo smiled weakly at Yume.  
  
"Daijoubu ka, Yu-chan?" He gasped out.  
  
Yume shook her head frantically.  
  
"Iie, nii-chan. Save your strength. Help is coming. Please, save your strength. Don't talk now."  
  
"Yu," Ryo's smile was sad this time. "You know that it is too late now. That idiot had punctured my lung, and you know it."  
  
Ryo struggled to breathe, and Yume cried harshly, tears leaking from her eyes.  
  
"Promise me something, Yume." A trickle of blood flowed from his mouth, and Yume wiped it away. "Promise me that you will live on, okay? Be happy."  
  
Yume wanted to yell at her brother for asking such a ridiculous thing. How could she be happy if he died? But she could not refuse his wish, not when he was giving her that look of trust. Grief-stricken, she nodded blindly.  
  
"H...hai, nii-chan, I promise" She forced herself to smile, but the tears came down even harder at that attempt. "You are such a baka, nii-chan. You should not have done that."  
  
"I promised to protect you..." Ryo hacked violently, and both knew that their time together was almost up. Yume gripped Ryo to her even tighter.  
  
"Onii-chan, iie."  
  
Ryo gave a last smile.  
  
"You know that I love you, Yu." With her name on his lips, Ryo closed his eyes and breathed his last.  
  
"I love you too, nii-chan."  
  
RECALL  
  
"It was all my fault. Had I not underestimated my opponent, Ryo would not have died. It was all my fault." By now, Yume was weeping silent tears. They fell pathetically from her chin, but she took no notice of them, her green eyes opaque as she relieved the past. Yume was jolted, however, when she felt a hand wiping away her tears.  
  
"Sumimasen, I...I shouldn't have said all that." She pushed away his hand and turned away, trying hard to compose herself. Akito was having none of that. Deliberately, he turned her to face him again.  
  
"Why are you so upset? What had happened had happened. It is already over. You pulled through it, didn't you? Get over it."  
  
Yume was so surprised that she stared at him. It seemed that there are a lot of layers to this person whom she knows as Akito. He never fails to surprise her. Most people in his position would pity her and be sympathetic; but Akito had cut straight to the chase and had in no certain terms told her to stop living in the past instead. For some reason, she felt infinitely better after the recount.  
  
"Hai." The girl said quietly. "Hai." Now it was more failed with conviction. "You are right. It is over already. Nii-chan would not have wanted me to be like this." She took a deep breath. "Arrigatou, Akito."  
  
The man was about to shrug when she interrupted his actions with a kiss. Unlike the earlier one, this one was initiated by Yume and she poured all her feelings into it. Akito was taken slightly aback, but he got over it quickly. Unconsciously, he placed his hands on her shoulders and pulled her nearer to him. Taking charge, he deepened the kiss. With a whimper, Yume's eyes fluttered open in surprise and she opened her mouth to question Akito's motive. Taking advantage of the opportunity, the man slipped his tongue inside. Yume felt her eyes slip close again. This kiss felt...good, even better than the previous one. Tentatively, Yume used her tongue to explore the insides of Akito's mouth, much to his delight. The pair kept the intimate contact until the need to breathe interfered, and even then, they disengaged from each other in the most reluctant fashion.  
  
Panting heavily, they stared at each other. Yume was horrified. She had just kissed Akito! She was not supposed to do that, but somehow, it had felt right, and she touched a hand to her kiss-swollen lips.  
  
'What does he think of me now, I wonder? He must think that I am very forward." Yume thought, amused. Telling Akito about Ryo had made her feel like a new person, which would explain her impulse daringness. 'I should just apologized and tell him that it is all because of the heat of the moment.'  
  
Thus settled, the girl was about to apologize when Akito spoke first.  
  
"Will you have an affair with me?"  
  
Lol...evil cliffie, ne? Ne? Hahah. Man I can't believe that it took 5 chapters for them to kiss. But at least they kissed twice!! And is Akito a little OOC? I am very worried about that. Please readers, please tell me what you think. I don't mind flames really. You know, I think that this story will most probably have an R rating later on. Not as soon as you want, but sooner than you think. Another chapter about Yume's past, and I think that this is all there is about it. Poor Ryo. He was such a man of character. I love him so much though. huggles him Please review and tell me what you guys think about this chapter, okay? And lastly, please excuse any spelling, tenses and grammatical errors that I might have in this chapter. Gomen nasai!!  
  
Until next time, ja ne!! 


	6. A Child's Faith

_**To Melt A Frozen Heart **_

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fruits Basket or any of its characters. I wish though.

########## = at another place

'...'= thoughts

= dream sequence

= recall

That's all for now. Enjoy, minna-san!!

**Chapter 6-A Child's Faith**

"Will you have an affair with me?"

Yume stared at Akito in shock.

"What...did you say?"

Akito looked amused at the girl's surprise.

"I said," The man repeated clearly and precisely, with no semblance of embarrassment at all. It was as if he had done this kind of thing before. "Will you be my lover?"

"Anou..."Yume turned red, and she desperately searched her mind for an answer. Unexpectedly, her thoughts went to Ryo.

RECALL

"You can't Yu. It is not our time yet. You have to go back and do your things, all the things that you want to do. Fulfill your dreams. Fall in love. Whatever it is that you want."

RECALL

'Hai, aniki, I promised to live for you.' Emerald eyes filled with determination, Yume turned to Akito. 'From now on, I shall live life to the fullest, so that when I meet you again, Ryo, I will be able to stay with you forever. You won't have any excuses to make me leave you again.'

"Are you willing?" Akito probed gently then, breaking Yume of her thoughts.

In answer, the redhead snaked her arms around his waist and shyly hid her face against his chest. "I agree." Green eyes peered up at him. "I will be your lover until my duty here with you is done."

##########

Shisho was in school, and it was already nearing noon. Soon, it would be time for release. Shisho could not wait; he knew that Akito would be waiting in the park for him, and if he was lucky, maybe Yume-neechan would be there too. Shisho decided that he would stop by the pasture behind the school later, where there is a whole field full of wildflowers. Yume-neechan always smiled when she saw the flowers, and it made Shisho very proud of himself.

Almost as if on cue, the bell rang, and with great speed, the boy tossed all his belongings into his bag and raced out of the school to the field behind it. The pasture was always blooming with wildflowers all year round, and now was no different. A wide variety of flora of all colors, shape and sizes presented themselves before Shisho. The air was thick with flowery perfume, and the boy inhaled deeply before going about his task of picking flowers.

"Oi, Shisho, heard that you are now always around the great Akito-sama." The last few words were enunciated sarcastically. Shisho stiffened. "Is that true?"

The young boy glared at his older and bigger cousins but gave no reply.

"So it is true then. Shisho Souma is thick as thieves with our patriarch. Don't go too near Akito, gaki, or you will become just like him; nothing but a sour and bitter bastard."

The older boy was petting his head like a puppy as he said that. In anger, Shisho shoved the boy's hand away.

"Don't touch me."

The boys gaped at Shisho but recovered just as quickly.

"Now that you have our patriarch's backing, you think that you are some big shot, is it?"

The younger boy kept quiet; he knew that he was in a very delicate situation; one wrong word and he might have to go home in crutches.

"What? No response?"

The older boy's face turned ugly. Deliberately, Shisho found himself crowded into a secluded corner of the school. Desperately, he looked for a way out, for a person who could help, but there was no one. Another one of the boys shoved him roughly against a wall, and Shisho hit the barrier painfully. The frightened boy was about to burst into tears when he remembered Akito-sama's words.

RECALL

"You are brave, boy."

RECALL

At that memory, the boy felt more courage than before. 'Akito-sama would be disappointed if he sees me cowering like that. I will not let him down.'

Thus said, the boy stood up taller, and bearing an emotionless face, he let them beat him up without making a single peep.

##########

Yume shivered. The weather was getting rapidly cold.

"Can we go back already?"

There was no reply from the Akito, and the redhead turned to look at him. "Akito?"

The man was currently scanning the park for something; what thing, Yume did not know.

The girl turned to touch the Souma patriarch then; her cold hand upon his startled him from his search.

"Nandato?" Akito was irritated at being disturbed.

Yume's teeth chattered and she gritted them in annoyance. "I said...can we leave here already? It is getting...d...dark...aa...and cold."

It was then that Akito saw Yume's shivering and cowering form. He scowled, angry at himself for his own lack of attention. Akito stood up suddenly.

"Let's go."

##########

Shisho sprawled onto the floor with a sickening crunch. The boy winced inwardly. His body was already too numb to register anymore of the pain that was being inflicted on him. Body and face covered with cuts and bruises, the young boy was too weak to even run for his life, let alone fight a handful of older boys.

"What are you, mute? Damn you, you think that you are so strong and fearless, huh?" The older Souma children were still not done with him. One of the boys spat near his prone body. "Tell you what, gaki, if you make some noise, then we will let you off. If not..."

They grinned maliciously to each other.

RECALL

"You are brave, boy."

"You are brave..."

RECALL

Shisho refused to give up. He refused to let the boys get the upper hand of him. He kept ominously silent.

"Make some noise won't you?!!" They ganged up and kicked him hard in the ribs. Repeatedly.

'Onegai. Onegai, yamero. Somebody...Somebody please help me. Akito-sama? Yume-nee-chan? Anybody? Boku wa...I can't take it any longer...' But the school was long empty and the boys had dragged him into a deserted back alley. Meanwhile, the attacks got more and more vicious. It would only be a matter of time before he lost his control.

It was then that Shisho realized something.

Nobody was going to come and rescue him.

'Shisho no baka ne,' the boy thought grimly. 'Even at this time, you are still here waiting to get help. What kind of bravery is that? This is nothing but cowardice. Find your own way out of this mess.'

Just then, it happened.

His ribs could not withstand the abuse anymore; and they cracked.

The little boy had never felt this kind agony before. They traveled from his upper torso all the way down to the tip of his toes and back again. Harshly, he bit back a scream. His lips bled furiously as a result of his willpower.

'Shisho...Shisho...you do not have to do this to be brave. Just surviving is an act of courage too.' His body cried out in desperation. And against his will, he let out a pained whimper.

"That's better, gaki. Well, we are off on our way now; going to be late for dinner, you know? Thank you for the entertainment. We should do this again some other time." The group snickered and the leader of the group of bullies bent down and patted his head like an obedient puppy. "Ja na."

Shisho was too weak too even protest. He just stared mutinously straight ahead until the group was out of side.

"This...is not...over...yet." The boy gasped out painfully, before his entire world turned black.

##########

"Could you please repeat that again?" Akito wiped his mouth daintily with a piece of handkerchief. He was having dinner, and Yume was beside him, serving.

The unfortunate messenger trembled. Akito's voice was too calm, too polite, and it bespoke of bad things to come.

"Anou...there is this boy that had not returned home since this afternoon, and...and his name is Shisho Souma, Akito-sama."

Yume nearly dropped the cutlery that she was currently holding. In panic, she was about to open her mouth to interrogate the messenger further when Akito merely laid his hand on top of her suddenly clammy one.

He was indirectly telling her to calm down, and in a split second, panic-stricken eyes turned into an emotionless emerald. Akito gave a slight nod of approval.

Never show your emotions to those whom does not concern you.

"Tell me what happened," The Souma patriarch commanded, delicately picking through his meal once again.

The poor messenger gulped. Hard. He was starting to feel as if he was in a lion's den. His eyes darted nervously about the room, as if trying to find any possible escape route.

Yume peered at Akito and saw his chocolate eyes molten with sardonic amusement. The redhead shook her head. A leopard would never change its spots, no matter what. The redhead gave a mental shrug. Not that she minded very much; after all, that was what had attracted her to him in the first place. Akito's imperfectness had made him so much more human, unlike that untouchable, godly aura that he normally puts on as befitting the status of a Souma patriarch.

She would never change that part of him no matter what.

But for now...

...it was just not the time for the lion to play with its food. Yume pinched Akito on the underside of his wrist. It was one of those small-but-hurt-like-hell kind of pinch, and Akito reacted. He jumped slightly and scowled furiously at the redhead.

Yume scowled back just as fiercely.

So much for not showing any emotions.

However, the messenger had not seen Akito's very un-Akito-like action, and thus the patriarch decided to ignore Yume's impertinence.

"Anou, the boy was supposed to come home straight after school but his parents had not heard head or tail of him ever since this morning, when he first set out for said school. They are very worried that something might have befallen their son and begs Akito-sama to send out some people to help search for the little boy."

Akito languidly took a sip from his cup.

"What makes them think that I will be willing to help?"

Yume nearly dropped the cutlery again.

What the hell was Akito trying to do now?

The messenger was so surprised by the patriarch's words that his mouth hung open.

"You are not planning to at least send some Soumas out?"

Akito carefully placed his tea cup gently back onto the table.

"As I said before, why should I?"

The man sputtered.

"You are their patriarch; you are supposed to look after their welfare!!"

Brown eyes narrowed, and Yume knew that Akito had reached his tolerance limit. There was a very thin line between amusement and annoyance, and the messenger had just overstepped his bounds; he seemed to know it too; for he turned pale and clamped his mouth shut.

"You think that I am not looking after their welfare?" Even though Akito was a few meters away; the man still winced as the wave of the patriarch's fury washed through him. "I am looking after them in a way that would require my ultimate sacrifice; and is that still not enough?"

Akito got up from his seat and stalked to the man; and Yume was struck by how utterly predatory he looked then. It was the first time that the redhead was seeing Akito in action as an observer, and it was morbidly fascinating, to say the least.

Yume had to say something; if there is one thing that Akito is good at; it would have to be psychology. The girl had never seen anyone who is so good at manipulation then Akito.

"Iie...Akito-sama. I did not mean to question your answers. Gomen nasai. Honto ne gomen nasai!! I will inform the parents of your decision." The man bowed deeply and repeatedly before fleeing out of the room.

Akito rolled his eyes mentally. He did not even get a chance to rip into the man properly. How disappointing. The people around him were always like that. Spineless and gutless; willing to stand up against him, only to cave at the smallest reaction from him and flee in the other direction. Boring. The last person who had stood up to him throughout was...

Akito remembered Yume's presence then. Turning, he saw her still in a kneeling position by the dinning table. Truth to be told, the patriarch had totally forgotten about the redhead until now. He allowed his fierce eyes to turn languorous as he slowly made his way back to the girl's side.

Yume was a very charming sight today. Dressed in an emerald green formal Japanese kimono, she graced his table like an elegant swan. Her fiery hair was done up in an adorable little knot; with tendrils caressing her cheeks and the rest of her hair waterfalling down her back like crimson blood. Her tiny waist was further emphasized by the narrow cut of the kimono and she looked utterly exquisite and feminine-like. A lady.

Make that a lady whom is just about to grow fangs and claws and turn into a miniature-sized Amazon.

Akito looked with suspended amusement as Yume's emerald eyes darkened with irritation.

"You are not going to help to look for Shisho?"

Akito shrugged.

"Should I be doing that?"

For a few seconds, Yume was at a lost for words.

"But, but Shisho-"

"But Shisho what?" Akito cut in brutally, his eyes dark with fury and hidden pain. Why can't they all understand that he is just another human being, one with a shorter lifespan then others; not some almighty, omni-potent god that could do anything?

"It was the boy's own fault for being stupid enough to get lost or even kidnapped!! It was his own fault that he wasn't careful enough!! It was his own fault that fate doesn't want to help him. It was all his fault..."

The last two sentences were uttered softly, and Yume stared at Akito with wide eyes. She did not know that...was that what they had told him when he was young? That everything was his fault?

Yume's eyes softened; but it was with sadness, not sympathy; sadness for all the emotional trauma that Akito had to endure as a child.

Akito's eyes narrowed even further. How dare she show him her pity?!! He, the esteemed patriarch of the Souma family, does not need pity! He did not need anything! How dare she!

"Akito..." Yume reached out her hand towards the man, but made no move to approach him. She knew that Akito would most probably flinch away if she approached him.

"Go away."

"Nani? Akito? I am not pitying you; please listen; I am just concerned-"

"I said, go away." The words were softly enunciated but were filled with inner venom. The redhead reared back at the intensity of those loathing words.

"Demo..."

"GO AWAY!!" Akito flung out his hand and with one sweep, he cleared the food laden table. Precious porcelain and food crashed and splattered onto the floor. "I don't need your pity or concern. I DON'T NEED YOU!"

Yume paled, and she went a few steps backwards. Almost immediately, the frozen, inner calm within her took over; and emerald eyes turned emotionless. Akito was too busy with his own rage to realize the deadened quality that was Yume's eyes.

"Hai, Akito."

The redhead gave a deep bow as fitting to her formal attire and turned around to exit the room. Akito watched her with hazed eyes as she slid open the door and stepped through it.

But before Yume was about to slide the door shut again, she said something; and Akito stiffened.

"It was never your fault, Akito; and I will prove it to you that it wasn't Shisho's too."

##########

Yume shivered hard. Mentally, she cursed herself for not putting on any outer clothes before rushing out of the Souma property. Now she was paying for her folly. The redhead looked around. The night sky was a hostile black, and overhead, the wind howled. It was going to rain, and it would be a heavy storm .Yume could all but smell the sweet, crisp air that always accompanies the birth of a thunderstorm.

It was just like Akito's scent.

Almost immediately, the petite girl tried to force her thoughts to somewhere else, albeit unsuccessfully.

I don't need you.

Even though her mind had told her again and again that Akito was saying all these just to assuage his pain; it had still hurt.

I don't need you.

Four simple words, but they could cause so much devastation.

The girl winced unwillingly.

'Yume, you big baka. Why are you letting Akito get to you like that? You are acting...almost as if he is important to you.' The girl started then. Emerald eyes wide with disbelief, she shook her head. 'Iie, uso yo, urusai!! He is not important to me; never has been and never will be. Just because we will be physically involved doesn't mean that I will have to care about what he thinks about me. What we are having is just an affair; an affair of lust, not love. Don't get involved; don't get involved no matter what.'

Why?

'Because you will be moving on after this mission is completed. Everything that you have now, everything that you have gained here would have to be dropped. You came here with nothing, and thus you will leave here with nothing. This is the life of an assassin. Hold on to nothing, and nothing will hold you back. This is the rule. You will do well to remember this, Yu.' The rational part of her mind commanded.

"Hold on to nothing...and nothing will hold you back. It is so true." Sad green eyes sharpened with fierce resolve. "If that is the case, then I will protect myself no matter what, because in the end, the only one whom I can depend on is myself. But for now, I will enjoy life to the fullest. I will sit back, and enjoy this affair, and when it is all over, I will walk away with no regrets."

But now was not the time for this kind of thoughts. Shisho was still somewhere out there, most probably lost and cold and alone, and Yume was determined to find him no matter what.

Thus convinced, the girl concentrated on her surroundings again only to realize that she was in Shisho's school. The wind howled eerily again, and the tree branches shook savagely. There was no one at all, and Yume felt as if she was only person alive on this earth. All in all, the deserted school looked hugely like a haunted building, standing there menacingly in the dark background.

Yume shivered, and scowled at her own weakness. Wryly, she looked down at her own attire, and admitted once again that it had been totally foolish for her to just run around in a thin silk kimono in the middle of the night, and expecting a storm too, of all the things to do. This night would definitely be filed under her 'The Top Ten Most Stupid Things That I Have Done' for a long, long, time, right below 'Agreeing to become Akito's lover'.

"SHISHO!! DOKO YO?!!"

Yume called out periodically as she started walking around the school. The redhead had just started combing the area for a mere half an hour when rain poured down viciously. It rained buckets, and the impact of the rapid, pelting rain stung Yume's skin repeatedly. The girl was unfazed, however. She continued her search, though she had long stopped calling the boy's name, as the rain had all but drowned out her cries.

Another one hour passed, and still no Shisho. The rain was still unrelenting, as if mocking all her efforts at looking for the boy.

Yume despaired of ever finding Shisho tonight, but thoughts of Shisho all alone outside in this horrible weather, cold and hungry, egged her on. By now, the redhead was totally drenched, and the thin kimono proved useless in protecting her against the harsh weather. It stuck to her like a second skin; and cold seeped into her quickly, making her shiver even more.

She was about to make one more round around the school compound when she saw the alley. Something beckoned her to go there; and Yume had never her doubted instincts. Cautiously, the girl entered the darkened backstreet. The further she ventured in, the darker it became. At last, it came to the point that Yume could hardly see anything anymore. It was then when the girl was about to give up and turn back that her feet nudged into something.

Yume frowned. That had felt like a...

Like a body.

Realization occurred in wide emerald eyes and the girl crouched down rapidly, blindly searching for what her feet had into contact it. It did not take long for her to find it, and with difficulty, Yume half carried, half dragged the deadened weight out of the alley, into the light. In the rather dim storm, Yume could barely make out an out thrown hand and a pale, bruised face.

It was Shisho.

GOMEN NASAI!! Lol. I'm BACK!! And obviously not dead yet, after all these weeks of not updating. Gomen ne, minna-san. Honto ne, gomen nasai. I know that I did say in my profile that this fic is currently under hiatus, but you know inspiration, they strike when you least expects it!! So here you go, the long awaited chapter 6!! Please forgive me for any spelling, tenses and grammatical mistakes that are in this chapter. Gomen and arrigatou!!

Now to answer some questions. I have read the reviews for last chapter, and I thank each and everyone of you who had reviewed; you have given me a lot of insight as to how this fic is progressing. Thanks to all of you!! Your reviews made me feel so happy!!

Ok, back to what I wanted to clarify. Some reviews indicated that Akito-chan was a little OOC, suddenly acting all caring and sweet towards Yume. I would like to say that Akito is NOT in love with Yume YET. He is in lust, as you can see. For the present, he is interested in Yume because of her beauty and her bravery to stand up against him. Not many had done that, and by doing so, she had earned his admiration. All in all, Yume had fascinated him like no one had before, and as a result, he seems to care about her more and is more willing to overlook her disrespectful behaviour towards him as a form of indulgence. Hopes that this explains all that I have written for the moment. However, I am not using this reason to excuse the OOCness. I will try my best to keep Akito from being OOC though.

Until next time, please be patient and support me!! Ja!!


	7. Rescue And Censure

_**To Melt A Frozen Heart **_

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fruits Basket or any of its characters. I wish though.

########## at another place

'...' thoughts

dream sequence

recall

That's all for now. Enjoy, minna-san!!

**Chapter 7-Rescue and Censure **

"What do you mean that Yume is gone?"

Akito was in Hatori's office. It was nearing midnight and there were still no signs of Shisho or Yume's return, and it had been a good few hours since the redhead had rushed out of the Souma property. Outside, the wind howled and lightning crashed dramatically.

The patriarch looked imperiously down at the doctor, which was some feat considering that Hatori was a good 13 inches taller then the former.

"I meant what I said; Yume had just walked out of the house and have not returned since. Find her and bring her back!"

The seahorse closed his eyes for a moment, hoping that all the problems would just disappear had he closed his eyes long enough. Things weren't so fortunate for him this time, however.

"Did you hear what I just said?" Akito demanded. "Go and retrieve Yume now!!"

Hatori had to face the facts then; Akito is not going to leave anytime soon, that is unless his redheaded bodyguard cum nurse is returned to him, which is not going to be very soon at all if Hatori's inkling of what had happened earlier is correct. With a deep sigh, the doctor massaged his temples and opened his eyes again.

"Akito, what exactly had you said or done this time to rile Yume up again?"

The younger man was affronted, to say the least.

"Why do you think that it is I who had made her mad? Can she not leave the house of her own accord?" Akito argued, slightly surprised that the doctor was not using his normally formal tone to speak to him.

"Because I know that nobody in their right mind would want to leave a cozy and warm house just to brave the stormy elements outside."

Akito could not find anything to refute that, so he fell into a huffy silence.

Hatori shut his eyes again. Since they were in his office after all, he could afford to outwait Akito until he decides to spill everything, and sure enough, the irate patriarch spoke after fifteen minutes of tensed silence.

"Shisho Souma has gone missing and Yume wanted me to help," Akito spat those words out almost as if they held poison. "As if I could do anything at all. I am not a goddamned kami!! Just a human being with a shorter lifespan than others."

The last sentence was hissed out with bitterness, and Hatori knew that Akito was still coming to terms with his mortality.

"So in a fit of anger at your unhelpfulness, she left to look for the boy herself?" The doctor asked sharply.

Akito nodded in affirmation and Hatori thought that Yume had acted too rashly. Hatori also knew who Shisho is, but had not heard that the child had gone missing. It was until Akito had informed him that he realized.

"She is too reckless for her own good." The younger man growled. "Someone should be beside her to curb her wild ways."

Hatori wondered vaguely if Akito had himself in mind.

He was about to make out a plan to look for both Yume and Shisho when there was someone at the door.

"Come in." The seahorse commanded.

Hesitantly, the door to his office slid open, revealing a small group of Souma boys.

"We...we are looking for Akito-sama." One of the boys spoke fearfully when the entire gang had stepped into the room and closed the door behind them.

"What is it?" Akito asked harshly; not mindful of the cringes and the scared looks that the boys had on their faces.

"We think that we know where Shisho Souma is," Another boy answered slowly as he guiltily looked at his shoes.

The extremely terrified nature of the boys and the guilty way they behaved were not missed by Hatori; and certainly not by Akito either. It did not take a genius to guess that these kids probably had some form of involvement with Shisho's disappearance.

Already frustrated by all the events that had occurred today and also by Yume's departure, Akito practically felt his blood stir at this huge chance at venting his anger at what had most probably been the cost of all his annoyance.

Like a predator stalking its prey, Akito glided over to the frightened children, never minding the fact that there were none past the age of twelve.

Chocolate brown eyes glinted.

"Yes, what do you know?" Akito's voice was not harsh anymore, but silky and smooth. "Do tell me EVERYTHING."

The boys knew better than to be comforted by that. Instead, they grew even more petrified, and tried to press against each other in an instinctive way to make themselves appear smaller.

Through it all, Hatori sat by his office table and regarded the scene with calmness and neutrality. He knew better than to interrupt the patriarch when he was in that kind of mood. Furthermore, the seahorse was fairly sure that Akito would not be that extreme with his manipulation, seeing that the opponents were just kids. The doctor decided then that he would intervene only when Akito plays too rough.

Leaning back into his chair, Hatori once again closed his eyes as he waited for Aktio's interrogation to be over.

"Shisho...Shisho, you must pull yourself together." Yume panted as she piggybacked the barely conscious boy across the sports field into the shelter of the school building. The important thing now is to get them both to shelter against this merciless rain and then to access the full extent of Shisho's injuries the next. Filled with purpose, Yume lengthened her strides despite being increasingly fatigued by both the freezing temperature and the almost deadened weight that she was carrying.

"We are reaching the school building already, Shisho. Bear with me a little bit more ne?" Mindful of Shisho's injuries, Yume delicately adjusted the boy on her back to get a better grip, and all but ran the last few meters into blessed shelter. Upon reaching there, she slowly but skillfully lowered the boy from her back to the ground almost gently.

Shisho opened his eyes then, and with great difficulty.

"Yume...nee...chan..." Weary hazel eyes that looked too old on a boy so young regarded the female assassin with childlike trust. "Boku wa...I knew that you would come."

Yume had felt like weeping then. All that time when she was searching blindly all over the place instead of concentrating on the school area, Shisho had fiercely clung on to the belief that she would be coming in rescue.

"H...hai..." The redhead's voice wavered a little, and then held steady; now wasn't the time to indulge in emotions like these. With sure hands, Yume checked the boy up and down to determine how badly injured Shisho was. She is dismayed to see and feel the bruised ribs and black and blue marks found all over the boy's body. At the same time, the redhead stripped off Shisho's rain-sodden shirt in an effort to keep him warm.

"And I tried too. I tried so hard, but I still could not do it." The little boy muttered, whimpering once in a while whenever Yume's hand brushed acrosss a tender spot.

"Nani? What do you mean?" Yume half-listened to the boy's words as she continued her ministrations.

"Yume nee-chan...They hit me. They hit me so hard that I cried. I made noise to make them stop." Shisho started crying softly then, pitiful tears that made tracks all over his cheeks. Yume's heart wrenched at the sight. "I am not brave, like what Akito-sama had told me. I am a coward, ne?"

The redhead was stunned.

Had Akito's words made such a great impact on the little boy that he had been brave just because of them?

"Iie, iie, Shisho." Yume answered huskily. With a hand, she gently brushed away an errant lock of hair that lay on the boy's forehead. "You are the bravest boy that I have ever known; and I am sure that Akito would agree on this too, if he was here. You survived this, didn't you? You survived this."

It took awhile for Shisho to think thinds through, but when he did, he smiled; the smallest tilt of his lips. It was took almost all of his remaining strength to do that; and his eyes reflected what his facial features could not show; the childish pleasure of a work well done.

"Hai, I did." The boy breathed softly. "And Yume nee-chan helped me too. Arrigatou." With that, his strength was spent, and the little boy closed his eyes again in rest.

Yume watched over him, and smiled too, regardless of the near freezing weather.

"Rest then, Shisho-chan. Wait here while I go get help, okay?" She told the sleeping body of the child even as she herself struggled to get up.

The cold had made all her joints frozen and body movements sluggish, and it was on totally numb legs that had Yume staggered onto. As with normal effect of a body when left out too long in the cold, Yume felt all sleepy and tired. But she knew that to fall unconscious now would be suicide. Determinedly, she ploughed on to outside the shelter of the school compound, and her body protested as it was being subjected to the cold rain again.

'Shimatta, I should have brought a mobile or something. But then, thinking now is too late. I should have thought earlier and acted later.' The redhead thought, berating herself silently.

'Atashi wa...I must go on.' Yume told herself repeatedly even as she tried in vain to find warmth within the thin kimono that she was wearing. 'Shisho needs help more then I do. I must go on. I must.'

But words of encouragement could only work when the physical body could, and the delicate redhead was almost near exhaustion. She was just a few steps away from the school exit when her legs gave out on her.

Stumbling awkwardly like newborn foal with unsteady legs, Yume was about to collapse heavily onto the ground when she felt hands supporting her and pulling her upwards.

Too relieved to even question the identity of the kind Samaritan, the girl simply leant heavily onto the person.

"In the school compound," She whispered between gasps. "There is a boy in the school compound. He needs more help then I do. Please go and save him first, onegai shimasu. I am still alright."

For awhile, there was no answer at all from the mysterious person, and Yume thought that maybe he had not heard her speak. She was about to repeat her words when the person finally spoke in reply.

"Stupid idiot. You are trembling so hard and you are so weak that it is almost laughable. And yet you are still worrying about someone else. You should have known better then to rush off in this kind of weather." The voice coming from her savior was harsh with fury, and it took Yume a good ten seconds before she realized the identity of the person.

"A...Akito?"

"They shouldn't have done that."

Akito appeared not to have heard Hatori's remark. He continued staring outside the window. Outside, the rain continued pouring, and became even heavier if possible.

They were in a car, with Hatori driving towards the direction of Shisho's school.

It turned out that the group of Souma children had confessed under the pressure of Akito's brutal manipulation and had spilled out all the details. Hatori cringed inwardly at the memory.

Those children won't be talking bad behind Akito for a long time.

"We are reaching, and hopefully Yume should have found Shisho by now."

The car pulled into the sheltered school porch and almost immediately, the two passengers got out. With his longer legs and larger strides, the dragon pulled opened an umbrella and switched on the torchlight, disappearing into the school alley which the boys had described in a matter of moments. Meanwhile, Akito made his way into the school building.

The interior of the building was rather dark, but not to the point where visibility is impossible. With his normal pace, Akito casually ventured deeper into the school. It was not the same school as the one where Yuki, Kyou, Tohru and the other younger Soumas had studied in, but the atmosphere here was the same.

However, that was not what Akito had come for.

The patriarch kept his eyes sharp for a familiar emerald green kimono and brilliant shimmering hair, but to no avail. After a mere five minutes of searching, Akito was but ready to give up. It never occurred to him to call out for the redhead; it was simply unthinkable; an act below his stature. Furthermore, his pride would never allow him to go around yelling like a common fishmonger.

'Besides,' Akito thought furiously, 'Yume deserved it. She was the one who ran out on me like that. Her welfare is entirely none of my concern.'

But even as he tried to convince himself that he was right, his heart thought otherwise.

RECALL

"It was never your fault, Akito; and I will prove it to you that it wasn't Shisho's too."

RECALL

Akito felt his fists clench at that memory.

What the hell did she think she was trying to do, playing with his head like that?

Everyone in the Souma clan knows that it was his fault; he was, after all, the reincarnation of the kami that had cursed the clan with the spirits of the twelve zodiac animals. He was the bitter reminder of the Soumas' fate, and not once had he been allowed to forget that fact. It had been always like that from the moment of his birth; and would most probably stay that way till the time of his death.

Cursed, and whoever gets too near to him would suffer the consequences. Wasn't Shisho a fine example? Had he not allowed the little boy to get too close to him, such a thing would never have happened.

Whereas the others are cursed to change into animal forms whenever hugged by the opposite sex, his is much worse and infinitely more painful to bear; to be alone for life.

His fate had been sealed the moment he was conceived; and there was no way that it would ever change.

Damn Yume for making him think, or even worse; wish for the impossible.

His mind was about to ruthlessly weed out the optimistic thoughts that Yume had seeded when the doubts in his heart halted it.

Demo...what if...

What if she was right?

Molten eyes lightened curiously for just a smallest fraction of a second; but what was clearly there was unmistakable.

A tiniest seed hope had just been planted there...

But will it ever grow?

All of a sudden, lightning flashed, quickly followed by a sharp crack of thunder, thus successfully jolting Akito out of his thoughts. The man quickly re-orientated himself and decided then to walk back to the car porch to await Hatori, seeing that there is no one in the school building.

However, just when he was about to reach the entrance, there was a shadow, and Akito spotted movement. Instinctively, the patriarch hid in the shadows, concealed by darkness.

The moving shadow was moving inwards to the building, and the unknown person seemed to be carrying a burden.

When the figure staggered closer to him, it was then that he saw and recognized the person.

Yume.

And she was piggybacking Shisho.

The two of them looked a sight; A petite, fragile-looking girl carrying a boy almost her size. Akito thought that Yume was looking extremely worn out and fatigued, what with her obviously tightly shivering form and pale features.

But yet she did not even care about her own comfort; it was all about Shisho.

For the next fifteen minutes, he watched and listened to Shisho and Yume's conversation with mixed emotions.

He was stunned that Shisho had treated his careless comment so seriously.

He was angry that Yume had been stupid enough to run around in the thunderstorm with practically no protection against it at all.

To his surprise and great reluctance, he found himself worried about the two of them.

He was still listening in his quiet corner when Shisho whispered his thanks to Yume before falling unconscious. He looked on as Yume told the boy that she was going out to get help.

Akito knew that he most probably should appear by her side that very moment, but his anger at her rash foolishness had not subsided yet and he decided to remain in the shadows; watching to see what she would do instead.

And Yume being Yume, she did not fail to make him even madder.

He watched with disbelief as the little redhead staggered unsteadily to her feet and started to the entrance of the school again.

'Iie, I don't think that the little baka is that stupid to...'

She proved him wrong.

Akito was practically near bursting with fury as he watched her walk out into the needling rain again. He saw her wince at the impact that rain had made on her skin, but still she forced herself to move on.

"I cannot believe this." Akito muttered to himself.

"Did I just see Yume walk out of here?" Hatori lowered his umbrella as he stepped back into the shelter.

Akito did not bother to answer him.

"She has found the boy. He is inside." The patriarch lifted a slender finger and pointed towards the school building.

"Sou desu. What about...Yume?"

Akito was still not looking at Hatori. Vaguely, he took the umbrella from the doctor's hand, opened it over his head and stepped out into the rain.

"I will get her."

The dragon nodded without a thought and upon retrieving a small doctor kit from the car, all but ran into the building to attend to the boy.

He watched every single movement of hers; every misstep and stagger.

He would trail a little distance behind and look on even as her small frame shook with fatigue and exhaustion. He wondered when she would give up and realize that she would not be able to find help at all, given the worn out condition that she was currently in.

But she never did.

Either she don't recognize her limits or that she knew and did not care; he did not know. She would stop every few steps to re-gather whatever energy that she has left before forcing herself to move on again. All he knew was that watching that determination of hers hurt, even though it made him very proud of her.

Can she not for once act like those weak women; those who would wait and ask for help instead of looking for it themselves?

For twenty minutes he had been trailing after her, and still she did not admit defeat. Yume had the will of steel, and it seemed to him that it was going to be the death of her. It went to the point where he was silently asking her to give up, to fall.

Fall so that he could help her.

He had always been a proud person, and offering to help had never been his strongest point. He does not know the proper way as to asking to help, and so, the only sure way to doing it is to wait till the other party has no choice in that matter before he makes the offer.

He didn't have to wait long for this time though, as her physical body gave out on her soon after, even though when her mental state was not ready to give up yet. Fluidly, he grabbed the chance and swept in at the last moment to gather her cold body into his waiting arms.

'She is so much lighter than I first thought.' He wondered with surprise as he easily supported her. But even as he did that, her frozen state and uncontrollably shivering body was starting to rile him up all over again.

'Why can't she understand that she has her limits too? Why must she always push herself to the point of danger?'

Yume spoke then, through chattering teeth.

"In the school compound," She whispered between gasps. "There is a boy in the school compound. He needs more help then I do. Please go and save him first, onegai shimasu. I am still alright."

Akito could hardly take it anymore then. His temper got the better of him and he opened his mouth before he could stop himself.

"Stupid idiot. You are trembling so hard and you are so weak that it is almost laughable. And yet you are still worrying about someone else. You should have known better then to rush off in this kind of weather."

In a purposely detached state, he waited as she took a rather long moment to identify him; she was that battered.

Again, Akito had to force himself to calm down or he was going to start tearing into Yume again, and even he knew that she would not be able to respond properly in this state.

Thus with a huff, the patriarch resigned himself to getting wet and dropped the umbrella in favor of getting his phone to contact Hatori.

As usual, the doctor responded with efficiency, confirming Yume's find and Shisho's safety, and at the same time, promising to reach the couple very soon.

"Are you mad at me, Akito?"

The patriarch was inwardly surprised; he had assumed that Yume would have gone unconscious or have fallen asleep by now, seeing the state that she was in.

Sharp brown eyes met tired emerald ones.

"What of it?"

Yume stared at Akito with smiling eyes, despite her condition.

"I am sorry to make you mad. Honto ne gomen ne. Demo I am still so happy all the same."

An eyebrow rose; and Yume vaguely wondered how interesting it was that Akito could look all cool and calm despite getting rapidly soaked standing in the middle of a storm.

'It must be in the Souma blood that Akito's upbringing is so impeccable.'

"You are glad that you made me angry?"

Yume broke out of her whimsical thoughts and shook her head in denial.

"Iie, I am happy because you came to look for Shisho too, even though when you said that you wouldn't."

Akito looked sour then.

"How could I not? I don't recall being given a choice at all," Annoyed eyes regarded the redhead. "You had acted too rashly and impulsively."

Yume lowered her eyes.

"Hai, I know that that is my greatest weakness."

'And one of your greatest asset.'

Akito did not voice that out loud though, lest she got the wrong meaning and decides that it is perfectly all right to go haring around anytime, anywhere. Just because of the fact that such activities are a very common part of her lifestyle does not mean that he has to follow suit now that they are going to be together. If there was something to be done, it was that he was definitely going to try his best at curbing those impulsive and unthinking tendencies of hers.

They both have so many things and issues to iron out if they are going to have an affair together!!

'This is most probably because our characteristics are so vastly different from the other.' The patriarch thought. Yume had fell silent now in order to conserve her energy, leaning lightly on Akito and closing her eyes, content in the knowledge that Shisho had gotten medical help.

'Life with Yume will certainly be full of ups and downs and kami-knows-what next.'

This was not the first time that Akito had indulged in affairs. In fact, he was rather familiar with the standard procedures, having had his first woman at the age of fourteen. Nothing was to be denied to the young patriarch, and it seemed that that applies to relationships too.

But the one thing that he was unfamiliar with this time is women with Yume's personality. The women whom he had associated with in the past were experienced players of the field themselves, polished Geishas who were taught all the arts to pleasing a man, be it physical or emotional. They were graceful, collected and subservient creatures, always agreeing with their male counterparts with poise and bearing.

They were dead boring.

Chocolate eyes turned molten in thought.

It was the first time that Akito had met such an individual as Yume; exciting, infuriating, confident and so much more. And just for those reasons alone, he could hardly wait for Yume to finally belong to him.

But now was not the time to have such thoughts, and just then, the doctor arrived in the car, in tow with a still unconscious Shisho in the front passenger seat. Quickly, the pair got into the car and Hatori drove off in the direction of the Souma residence.

"Arrigatou, Hatori-san; for coming to help."

The doctor looked into the rear-view mirror to stare at Yume. At last, he nodded in acknowledgement.

"I have expected you to be more professional than this, Yume; just impulsively running around like that, especially when you ran out on Akito, the person whom you were supposed to protect. What if the real assassin took this as an opportunity to try to hurt Akito again?"

Guilty silence.

Akito did not say anything to refute or agree with Hatori. The doctor was partially right after all; Yume really needs to learn about control.

"...Gomen nasai, minna. Atashi wa...atashi wa will try not to behave that rashly again."

Yume was very ashamed of herself. It was so like her to just drop everything to pursue something else just on impulse, which was why she would never make a good bodyguard. Her pride had also taken a severe beating; seeing that she, a professional, had to be rescued by two civilians.

Again, the dragon regarded the girl through the mirror, and it seemed that he was convinced that her apology was sincere. Taking his eyes back onto the road ahead, Hatori spoke again.

"We will continue this again when you are feeling better. You are not in your best shape to explain your actions to us right now; demo I will be expecting a good reason for these behaviors of yours."

"Hai...domo."

Akito merely snorted.

"What do you mean by 'explanation'? Do you think that there is a logical explanation for impulse? I think not. I don't want any explanations; all I want is for her to stop making this kind of stupid moves and make us chase her around like a pair of baka in the middle of the night."

Yume stiffened slightly at the sarcasm in Akito's words, but the patriarch did not seem to notice at all. He continued on with his rants. Hatori, on the other hand, had quickly noticed the sudden 'drop' in the temperature in the car. He winced inwardly and tried his best to contain his exasperated sigh.

Akito had better not come to his suite tonight to complain about the redhead. Hatori did not think that he would be in the mood to entertain the younger man, especially when everyone is sleeping. With a genuine sigh this time, the doctor began to contemplate if Shigure would be willing to allow him to bunk in his house tonight.

Unbeknownst to the group of people who had just driven off in the car, someone had been at the school too, and had seen everything that had occurred there. The shadow of the person detached itself from that of the school buildings and moved quickly into a car that had been discreetly hidden behind the sports field.

The assassin could hardly believe what his eyes saw.

Akito Souma was still alive.

That would explain why there was no news about the patriarch's supposed murder and (hopefully) death. However, the man was sure that his daggers had met flesh, so why was Akito still standing here a few moments ago, all hale and hearty? Even if he had not died on impact, the wounds that the knives had inflicted would have caused the frail Souma to be at least bedridden for half a year or so.

So what had happened?

The man's eyes narrowed. Something did not smell quite right here. Akito could not have detected him that day; he had purposely hidden his scent so that normal people would not be able to sense him at all.

Unless...

The Soumas had hired a professional?

If that was the case, then he had to quickly weed out and exterminate that barrier which was blocking him from his goal. Time is running out, and he had to act fast. His client is getting more and more demanding each day, and he worried of ever getting paid the full sum of a mission accomplished.

The assassin was getting desperate, and desperate times call for desperate measures.

Hehehe, sucky ending to this chappy, I know, I know. Honto ne gomen nasai, minna-san!! For making all of you wait so long!! Gomen gomen!! If you were really interested to know what had happened to me these past few months, well, it's the exams. Yup, it got to me too, but I survived it. Yeah for me, ne ne? ;;; But as compensation, I have written a slightly longer chapter this time, so I hope that makes you all a little happier. I would really like to thank all the recent reviewers of this fic who had sent in their reviews urging me to update soon. I am so happy that I am missed!! I am not invisible after all!! Lalalalla.... --;;

Hmm...any personal or urgent comments that you would like to leave me but not want to put it in the 's review box? Lol, coz I had just set up an online journal. As I visit the journal practically daily, which is more then I do for nowadays, I can reply much faster. You can feel free to ask anything or comment, would be happy to hear from you!!

Oh and before I forget, this is the webbie: 

Do remember to review!! Your reviews are my fuel!! And please pardon the spelling or grammatical errors that I might have. I really need a beta-reader. Phew. Any interested parties? Domo, and until next time, ja ne, minna!! scurries off to finish the next chapters of The Girl Who Didn't Believe and And Babies Makes Six


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